Big Girls Don't Cry
by FireboltPheonix
Summary: Hermione has lost herself in the aftermath of the war. She's lost Ron to Romilda Vane and is a shadow of her former self. Can he help her bring the laughter back to her life? Can he stop her tears from falling? Can he be her saviour? [[HermioneFred]]
1. Impulse Buying

**Impulse buying**

**A/N:** My first fic, without having any possibility of a Dramione. I'm going in a different direction for this one. Mostly it's a Fred/Hermione. (From here on in known as Mioned)

Hope you like it. Not sure about how long I'll make it yet, will keep you posted! Also, I now have a quote before I begin each chapter, to inspire others.

**Disclaimer: **J.K owns it all, every last detail about a character, you want to know it? She's got it, and owns it. _Holds back bitter tears_. But stays in wonder at how someone had such a fantastic imagination!

**Quote: **"There are so many wonderful ideas out there, if only we could think of them"

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Hermione Granger, sat at her desk, writing. A few moments later, she attached the now finished letter to a snowy owls leg. She patted it affectionately before it flew out into the now black sky. It was mid-July but for the past two days it had been raining. Most wizards blamed the Dementors, even though they cannot control the weather. Those who were in some way associated with Muggles knew otherwise. 

"Stupid global warming" Hermione muttered to herself as she rose from her uncomfortable swivel chair. She headed out from her cubicle and walked through the empty office towards the coffee machine. Hermione had never cared much for coffee when she was younger but these days, it was the only thing keeping her awake.

After making some coffee, she returned to her desk. She sipped it for awhile, staring absently out at the sky. She heard footsteps approaching her on the polished wooden floor that, Pete, the cleaner, had polished hours before. Well, she heard them but didn't really _hear_ them.

"Hermione?"

The sound of her name snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked up and found herself face to face with her best friend Ron Weasley. She blushed and looked away from him, tidying up papers; she spoke to him while doing so.

"What are you here this late for?"

"I forgot something and came back to get it. Never mind that though, what are _you_ doing here? It's past midnight!"

"I, uh, had some work to finish" She said not being able to look him in the eye.

"Mione, why won't you look at me?" Ron inquired, fidgeting with his nails as he questioned her.

"I'm not, _not,_ looking at you, I'm just looking elsewhere"

Ron took in her cubicle as she put things away. It was crammed with books and notepads. A calendar hung next to a small window, but it still had the month of May showing. Finally, realising she couldn't avoid him any longer, Hermione stared up at Ron. His red hair was quite long now, and nearly reached his chin, it suited him though. He came to being around six feet tall. His blue eyes as electric as ever, Ron still remained skinny though, never quite 'filling out', you could say. No matter how many protein drinks he made, or how many charms he cast, he couldn't form any real muscle. Sure, he was strong, but just, didn't look like he was.

"Mione, are 'we' okay?"

"Sure! Why wouldn't 'we' be?"

"Well, I mean, ever since things became serious between Romilda and me-"

"Romilda and I" Hermione corrected him automatically.

"Romilda and I, sorry. But ever since then, you've just seemed, unlike yourself. I thought that maybe it was because of the fact that you were a bit awkward around me after we broke up, but you weren't until Romilda came along-"

"Ron, are you implying that ever since you've found happiness, my life has, as you are trying to say, ceased to exist?"

Ron let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Well, yeah. That's basically it-"

"I'll have you know Ronald that my life does not revolve around you and has not since last December. I can make a living, perfectly well by myself-"

"I didn't say you couldn't-"

"And need no one else but myself to survive. Now, if you excuse me, I have to get going, places to be, people to see" She said icily.

Hermione gathered her books, her wand, her bag and the cup of now, cold coffee. She turned off her desk lamp and left without another word to Ron, leaving him in complete darkness.

Usually Hermione apparated back to her parents house, where regrettably she still lived. She was planning to move out, in the next two weeks if possible. But tonight she couldn't face going home, not now, not after the confrontation with Ron. She quickly put on her coat and stepped out into the rain. It had been non-stop rain since Monday. Hermione, with her tan looked as if she was constantly disappearing to tropical countries, but she wasn't, she partially thanked her dad for his dark skin colour but also, she thanked a muggle product, it gives you a gradual tan – Nivea was the company's name.

To say she wasn't in the best mood would be an understatement. The truth was that she was extremely jealous of what Ron and Romilda had together. For nearly eight years Hermione had been in love with Ron. They'd dated, but it was awkward, like dating your cousin. So they ended it last December, for the sake of their sanity if nothing else. They remained friends; though when Hermione was around Romilda, she would get looks that plainly, if translated into words said "If looks could kill you'd be six feet under by now" off of the black haired girl. Hermione was actually convinced that she dyed her hair. It looked like it had come off one of those shampoo ads on her parents' television.

She walked through muggle London. Her coat was a summer coat, so basically she was soaked to the skin. Her bushy hair was matted and fell over her face as she braved the weather. She let her feet lead her to wherever they wanted to go; she was too lost in thought about Ron and Romilda. But when she returned to reality, she realised she was standing outside Harrys door. Hermione turned to leave but the door opened before she turned fully.

"Hermione, what are you doing outside in this whether? You'll catch your death, come in!"

Hermione stepped into the narrow hallway as Harry closed the door behind her.

"I went for a walk" she replied in answer to Harrys question.

He gave her a quizzical look, but said no more, for which Hermione was thankful. He led her into the sitting room, his TV was on. A movie was just after beginning. Harry handed Hermione a towel and she smiled gratefully. She shrugged off her coat and wrapped herself in the warm, fluffy towel.

"Hermione, what-"

"Can we talk about this tomorrow, please Harry?" Her chocolate eyes pleaded with him.

"Sure" He gave her one last look with his emerald eyes before turning his attention to the TV.

"What's on?" Hermione asked tiredly.

"Notting Hill"

"Ooooh, that's my favourite movie!" She tried to settle herself in the chair but couldn't. Harry beckoned her over and she curled up on the other end of the sofa to her best friend, sharing the towel and using it as a blanket between them.

The next morning Harry woke to a smell he wished he could eat. Following it with his nose, it led him to the kitchen, where he found Hermione, in a much better mood than the previous night, and she was making scrambled eggs and bacon.

"Morning" She called over to him happily.

He grunted his reply, as he hadn't fully woken up yet. His hair was mussed from sleep, and unconsciously he messed it up even more at the back, the way he'd seen his dad do it in Snapes Penisive. Noticing a very handsome amber coloured owl he shuffled over to the window. He took the Prophet off its leg and put a Knut in its pouch as its payment. He read that while waiting for breakfast. He knew not to offer a hand; it was Hermiones way of saying thanks for letting her stay over. Minutes later, breakfast was served and he realised how famished he was, he hadn't eaten since his dinner, at seven the night before. After a few minutes of silence he decided to get an answer to his question.

"Is there anything wrong Mione?"

"No" Harry looked at her, his green eyes boring into her brown eyes. Finally, he broke through her wall and she sighed, putting her fork down.

"Its Ron" she said more to her plate than Harry, "I saw him last night. And he said the usual stuff about him and _Romilda_" Hermione spat her name, "And for once I listened to him, really listened to him. He's really happy with her Harry. And I know there's no way we could ever get together again, but, I just can't stand the fact he moved on so quickly"

"Mione it was three months later"

"Exactly! You see there's no reason why I'm so bitter about his happiness but still, that's what I am." She looked at Harry, "I've become really bitter, over this and, I don't know what I can do about it. I'm in a vicious, descending circle, and I just keep spinning and spinning and now, Harry, I've no idea who I am. I mean, since the War ended, I've just been unable to move on. My best friend died, on my birthday. Hagrid wasn't supposed to die. He was Hagrid. He was our big, loveable friend. And at least I can say, with satisfaction that Rolphodus Lestrange deserved everything he got and I regret nothing I did to him." Hermiones eyes were glassed over, full of unshed tears.

Harry stayed silent, he was remembering Hermiones despair at the fact the Final battle had started on the eve of her birthday, everyone, on both sides fought for over 24 hours. And just as Hermione had remembered it was her birthday, she'd witnessed the male Lestrange kill Hagrid. Harry, every night had nightmares about what'd happened. They'd won the war, but lost so many people for it. Professor Dumbledore, Percy Weasley, Seamus Finnegan, Cho Chang, Professor Sprout, Hagrid, Micheal Corner, Padma Patil, Kingsley Shakelbolt and Tonks. Lupin hadn't been the same since. Nobody had. Everyday, the people who'd fought tirelessly against the Dark side, remembered those lost, and what they sacrificed in order for Harry to complete the prophecy. Harry himself, had fought his own demons, battling depression in the months afterwards. He'd lost, his first friend when Hagrid died, and it took him awhile to move on, he still hadn't, not completely and knew, deep down that he never would properly move on.

"Well, Mione, lets drink to that" They both raised their cups of coffee and drank from them, celebrating the fact that Hermione had attacked and beaten Rolphodus so brutally that he was still in a coma, all without the use of her wand. "By the way, if you hate who you have become, why not stop being that person?" Harry asked simply.

"I – because – I – we – it's complicated" Hermione managed at last.

After putting the dishes in the dishwasher, Harry led Hermione to his front door.

"Call by again sometime"

"I will" she promised.

"Don't forget to owl me"

"I won't" She gave a small smile as she put on her coat. Harry gave her a hug and then she disappeared into the crowds of muggle commuters passing his front door.

She bought a few muggle papers and found a quiet coffee shop. After ordering a coffee she immediately started house hunting. She pulled a pen from her bag and started circling the ones she was interested in.

Eventually, three hours and six coffees later, she'd narrowed it down to one. Hermione asked the waitress if she could use the phone. She dialled the number given with the advertisement.

"Hello?"

"Hi, I'm ringing to inquire about the house you have advertised in the property section of todays Sun"

"Oh, right, I take it you're interested?"

"Yeah, it sounds perfect"

"Are you in the area because I could give you a tour in awhile if you'd like?"

Hermione checked the paper. The house was in Cornwall.

_Lucky for me, I can just apparate there._

"Yeah, I'm nearby"

"Okay, come on over"

"Er – what's your name?"

"Mark, Mark White"

"Okay Mark, I'll see you in a minute"

Hermione hung up and thanked the waitress. She collected her bag and left a tip. Outside Hermione shivered, she looked down at her clothes and decided she couldn't go and see a house in them as she'd slept in them. So, she found a dark corner in an alleyway and apparated back to her parents' house.

She quickly changed into a pair of jean and a cream, long sleeved top. She piled her curly hair on top of her head and put it in a messy bun, clipping it in place. Quickly, she grabbed her bag and apparated to just outside the address given in the paper.

She walked up the driveway and stood in awe, staring out at the sea, she'd always been mesmerised by the sea as a child. She dragged her eyes away form the sea and gaped at the house. It was a two-story detached house. It was a grey stone house with big Georgian style windows. It had a nice sized front garden too. It was not like depressing grey stoned homes in London, it was magnificent and illuminated by the small bit of sun Cornwall was getting. The front door opened and a man stepped outside.

Mark White looked to be in his late thirties early forties. By his clothes Hermione could tell he was well off and by his left hand happily married.

"Hi, I never got your name on the phone" He said to Hermione, shaking her hand as he did so.

"Hey Mark, I'm Hermione"

"Come in, come in"

It was Hermiones dream home. It needed a bit of work though. It had a traditional old style kitchen and dining room. There was a small utility room connected to the kitchen. The sitting room was a magnificent size, not too big, but not too small. It had a wonderful view of the front garden. Upstairs, there was a large master bedroom with an en-suite, looking out on the front garden. There was a slightly smaller room overlooking the sea, a small box room giving a view of the back garden and a main bathroom, along with a hot press.

"So, how much is it?" Hermione asked Mark, biting her lip fervently. She loved this house and as she was intending to quit the Ministry, she would have all the time in the world to do it up.

"£440,000"

Hermione stared at him, her eyes bulging. She had a lot of gold; she'd received nearly a whole vault full from the Ministry for her part in the downfall of Voldemort. But she'd been intending to give it away as she didn't want it.

_But, maybe I could use it for myself, just a small bit, to pay for the house, then I could give the rest way._

Hermione muttered away to herself trying to convert her galleons into pounds.

"Todays rate is 1 galleon to £2.0166" Mark told her.

"Thanks", Then she froze, "Wait, you're a wizard?" She asked stunned.

"A squib", He said somewhat sadly, "My wife's a witch though".

Hermione smiled at him, "I'll take it"

They spent the next few hours making phone calls and signing sheets. Hermione apparated to Gringotts and collected the money needed from her now full vault. By six o clock everything was signed and sealed.

"So", Mark asked as he led the way out of the house, "When do you want the keys?"

"Um…now?" Hermione asked.

He chuckled as he handed them to her.

"Take great care of this house Hermione"

"I will. Thanks Mark, for everything"

He got into his Mercedes and drove away. Hermione turned and closed the door to her house. She leant against the door and squealed. She finally had her own home. And it wasn't just any home. It was her dream home.

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**A/N: **I hope its okay, no Fred until the next chapter; this is kind of a background chapter, one to introduce you to Hermiones personality and, of course, the house! Let me now, if there's anything I can improve on.

Love, **Firebolt**Pheonix.

X x O x X x O x X x O X

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	2. Life without a Weasley is no life at all

**A life without a Weasley, is no life at all**

**A/N: **Okay, chapter number two. Er, basically its Hermione, her new houe and Fred. Won't reveal too much. Bring on the Mioned, (I pronounce it my-on-ed) incase you were wondering although you can also pronounce it as (my-own-eed) but I think the former is better! Tootles!

**Disclaimer:** As per usual, Joanne Kathleen Rowling owns it all. Even her story about a Rabbit, called – Rabbit!

**Quote:** Imagination is more important than knowledge – Albert Einstein.

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Hermione couldn't stay in the house immediately; for one thing, there was no furniture, so she spent the night in her parents' house. She woke up and just stared at the ceiling for a few minutes.

_I have my own house! I have my own house!_

Hermione turned her head and her clock read quarter past eight. She jumped out of bed, work started at nine. So she grabbed a towel and went in for a shower. Ten minutes later Hermione was dressed in an old pair of jeans, a grey t-shirt with a heart design on it and a long, knee length black cardigan. Her long curly, slightly bushy hair was dry thanks to a bit of spell work and she'd put it in a ponytail, the same way she'd been wearing her hair to work since she started. She grabbed her bag and wand and ran down stairs.

"Honey, you'll be late for work. Here, eat up"

Hermione gratefully ate the food on the table, bacon and scrambled eggs – yum. When she'd calmed down a bit, and was nearly finished eating, she decided to broach the subject of leaving with her parents.

"You know the way I was planning, sort of, on moving out?"

"Yea-a-ah" Her mother, Jane said slowly, looking at her husband.

"Well, yesterday, I, uh, bought a house" Hermione said quietly to her plate.

"WHAT? HOW? WHY?" Her dad asked in surprise.

"It's perfect, three bedrooms, big spacious rooms, back and front gardens. It's beautiful; I have steps leading to the sea and onto the beach from my back garden!"

"But there's no sea in London" Her dad pointed out, obviously concerned for his daughter and her lack of knowledge of the area.

Hermione was realising that it would take her parents hours to come and visit her. But, she could apparate to and from. She could also try and connect them to the Floo network.

"That's because, it's not in London, Dad. It's, er, in Cornwall"

"CORNWALL?" Her father looked ready to faint.

"That's hours away" Her mother protested.

"Guys, please, it's my dream home and even though it'll take you hours to get there I can just apparate here to see you" Hermione tried to reason.

"Oh" This calmed them down immediately.

"Can we finish this later? Because I'm going to be late for work"

"Okay, but come straight home, we'll need to talk more about this" Her father warned.

"I will. Bye" She dissapparated with a soft _pop!_

She entered the Ministry at the apparition point at five to eight.

The day passed in a blur for Hermione. She avoided Ron at all costs, even taking to hiding behind a curtain while he searched for her. She felt mean for being so cold to him the last time she'd seen him. When he'd left Hermione stepped out from behind the curtain, to receive stares from colleagues as they passed.

At six o clock, when work finished, Hermione decided she'd let her boss, Dean Thomas, who also happened to be one of her old school friends, know that she was quitting the Ministry. Knocking on the door, she smoothed down her work robe; she kept it at work as she found it hideous.

"Come in"

Hermione opened the door.

"Hi Dean"

"Hermione, hey, anything I can do for you?"

"Actually, Dean, there is" She started, "I, uh, I'd like to quit" She said after closing the door behind her as she entered his office.

"Oh" Dean looked out the window and then back at Hermione, "Well, okay"

"Really, just like that?"

"Usually, you have to give us two weeks notice but since it's _you,_ I reckon I could pull a few strings"

"Thanks"

"You just have to sign these" He said, conjuring up some sheets.

Hermione signed them.

"Done" She said happily.

"Well Hermione, you are no longer an employee of the Ministry of Magic and their Department of Magical Co-operation sector and frankly, I'm glad"

"What?" Hermione asked indignantly.

"You were meant for so much more than this" He said with a gesture to his small office, "I thought you would've left months ago"

"Gee, thanks"

"No offence meant. If you hadn't practically tutored our year in the Common room for the weeks before the N.E.W.T's, I wouldn't be here. So, thanks" Dean said with a smile.

She smiled back, "Well, bye Dean"

"WAIT!" Hermione turned towards him at his desk, "Your pay check, where'll I send it to?"

"Put it in my account in Gringotts, thanks"

"You know" Dean said as he got up form his chair and walked around his desk, sitting on a corner of it, "since I'm no longer your boss, would you like to go on a date with me? To get to know me as a guy, not as Dean from school or Dean your old boss"

Hermione was startled, "I'd love to-"

"-but?" He asked tiredly.

"But, I'm in the middle of moving house and I have to decorate it and I'll have to find a new job. So can you wait until I'm settled?" Hermione wasn't used to having male attention and was a bit flustered.

"For you, I'd wait until the end of the world" Hermione blushed but didn't reply to his cheesy line.

"Bye" She left closing the door behind her softly; through the blinds she could see him. He must've realised what he'd said because he was now banging his head softly against the wall muttering 'Worlds end?" over and over again. Chuckling to herself, Hermione checked her watch. It was ten past six. Her talk with her parents, she'd almost forgotten it so apparated straight home.

After a long talk in which Hermione managed to convince her parents it was in her best interests to move out, she packed her clothes and said goodbye to them, promising to be in touch soon. So Hermione went furniture shopping to celebrate. She found a gorgeous king sized four-poster bed, the same as the ones in Hogwarts, but bigger. She also bought a beautiful cream corner sofa that she knew would go perfectly with what she had in mind for the living room. Hermione also ordered her kitchen appliances and thanked the assistant who told her they'd be delivered there straight away. Hermione loved magic for this! She decided at eight o clock she better head home. But first thought she'd drop in and tell Harry her news.

Hermione walked down the street on which Harrys' house was located. It had started raining again and Hermione was getting soaked. She saw, from a distance, a red haired man standing outside Harrys' house, he was holding an umbrella over his head. Hermione stopped short and her breathing rate increased rapidly. Ron was here. She turned to go but dropped her bag, and in the unusually quiet London street, it made a lot of noise as it clattered to the ground. The man turned to the source of the noise. He saw Hermione on all fours in the pouring rain and grinned, Hermiones heart stopped. It wasn't Ron at all - it was one of the twins. She picked up the contents of her bag and let out a shaky laugh.

"Hey Hermione, er – you okay?" He asked when she'd stood up. He then covered her head with his umbrella while doing so.

"Perfectly fine thank you George. What are you doing outside Harrys house in the rain?"

"I was going to ask you the same question! I'm, uh, waiting for him to get back from wherever he is. And I'm Fred by the way"

"And why are you waiting for him Fred?" Hermione said his name as though she hadn't gotten it wrong and confused him with his brother.

"Because I need a place to crash for awhile, Angelina's moved in. So, I had no other choice but to move out." He said, somewhat bitterly.

"Oh. Well, sorry" She sounded it.

"What are you here for anyway?"

"Harrys my best friend" She said, stating the obvious but continued, "As it so happens I've bought a house, in Cornwall, and wanted to tell Harry about it"

"You bought a house?" Fred asked sceptically, raising one eyebrow.

"Yes, I did"

"What, does it have like the largest home library in Britain or something?" He snorted at his own joke.

"No" Hermione replied coolly, "In fact it hasn't got a library"

"Yet" Fred added chuckling.

"Well, I better be off. Tell Harry I say hi" Hermione told him, she seemed to be ignoring his jibes at her fetish for books.

"I will"

"Bye Fred"

"Bye Granger"

He watched her go. She walked down to the end of the street and turned the corner.

"Why does she walk in the rain when she can just apparate?" He wondered aloud.

The rain kept pelting down onto the pavement. He could only see depression in the droplets. How Granger walked in the rain and seemed to enjoy it, he'd never understand, he thought to himself as he ran a hand through his slightly long red hair. It was long, as in saying, that it was still standing on end as though he'd been electrocuted, but it didn't lie flat on his head, kind of like Harrys.

Hermione bought a coffee before apparating to her house in Cornwall.

"Home sweet home" She muttered as she turned the key in the lock and stepped inside her home. She shrugged off her coat, and dried herself with a flick of her wand. Hermione then entered her kitchen that had new appliances and old counter tops. She conjured, out of nowhere, a freshly made raisin scone. With another flick of her wand it was sliced in half and had had some jam and cream put on it. Hermione bit into it, savouring the taste. Pretty soon after, Hermione made her way to her room, the medium sized one - she loved the sea view, and fell back onto her bed that had been assembled already. It had no covers on it at the moment so Hermione 'accioed' her rug from her parents house, out of one of the bags she'd sent here. She was exhausted but couldn't seem to sleep. She lay there for hours, tossing and turning, staring out at the turbulent sea that seemed to match her mood, wondering why she couldn't sleep. She finally found her answer when she caught sight of her flaming red coloured cuddly bear, the one she'd had since her first year at Hogwarts. In an instant she was up on her feet. She picked up her wand and thought hard, of her destination. Suddenly, she was being pressed in from all directions; she could not breathe properly, there were steel cords tightening around her chest, than as soon as it'd started, it stopped. She'd apparated to just outside Harrys front door, and as she was still regaining her balance, she reached out and rang his doorbell. After a few moments footsteps could be heard approaching the other side of the door, then it opened wide, revealing a raven haired, green eyed, bespeckled man, who looked quite surprised to find his best friend on his door step at eleven o clock.

"Hermione, what're you here for? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Harry, really"

"Come in" He stepped aside and she entered his hall. Hermione then continued until she was at the foot of his stairs.

"What are you doing? I thought you'd be at your house. Congratulations by the way"

"Thanks. Harry, do you like living on your own?"

"Yeah" He replied slowly.

"Well what about Fred?"

"What about him? He's crashing here for a few nights-"

"I think it'll be more than a few nights"

"Why?"

"Angelina's moved in with George"

"Oh"

"Hold on – FRED" Hermione roared up the stairs.

Harry stood stock still, wondering what on earth she was up to. Fred came thundering out onto the landing. He then roared back at her.

"WHAT?"

"COME DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT" Hermione bellowed back, she put her hands on her hips, imitating Mrs. Weasley. He grudgingly descended the stairs.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO BURST MY EAR DRUMS YOU DAFT WOMAN?"

"Yes I am as a matter of fact" Hermione replied smugly.

"May I ask why?"

"There's no need to ask my permission and the answer is…that, I'm here to offer you a permanent place to stay"

"Where?"

"With me, in my new house, in Cornwall" Both men's' jaws hit the floor. Hermione Granger live with Fred Weasley?

"Why?" Harry spoke for the first time since greeting her.

"Well, because he has no place to live and you like your privacy. Also, I know I'll be a bit lonely living in Cornwall in a big house by myself"

"But he's Fred. The exact same Fred you reprimanded at every opportunity during school for pranking people" Harry pointed out.

"I know that, I've not got amnesia. But I figure, what's life without a bit of Weasley in it?" She asked with a small smile.

"Not any kind of life at all" Fred said grinning while Harry laughed at the absurdity of it all, "So, Hermione" Fred continued, "How much do I pay you? And on what conditions do I live with you and your library?"

"Well, you don't have to pay me, except maybe, if you want to do the shopping once in awhile. Don't prank me. Help with the cleaning a bit, and, er, no more making fun of books and libraries infront of me"

"Not even a small prank?"

"Not even a teeny one" She said to him firmly.

"Well I suppose, it's a deal then, I'll get my stuff and I'll bring my bed from my apartment. Huh, isn't this great Granger? I'm your new house-mate!" He messed up her hair as she scowled at him. Fred then bounded p the stairs, leaving a stunned Harry, and a weary Hermione, wondering if she hadn't just made a very rash decision she could not take back, concerning, one Frederick Weasley, whose hair is the colour of fire.

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**A/N: **Well, here it is folks, the second chapter. Sorry I took forever to update, I've been away and was hit with Potter fever and have been re-reading all the books before the release of Deathly Hallows on Friday night. Also, just thought I'd mention how totally awesome the new movie is, though, one of my favourite things was left out – the chant Fred, George and Ginny do when Harry gets cleared at the Hearing!

To Thief Maiden, sorry you had to review twice! Hope you like this instalment. Also, to x-Lazart-x, kalian-blue, SnarkyGirl91 and MaskOfComedy – thank you for reviewing!

Love Always, **Firebolt**Pheonix.

X x **O **x X

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	3. Waking up to a Weasley

**Waking up to a Weasley**

**A/N: **Sorry for the delay, I got caught up in Pottermania as most of you might have! And if you have finished Deathly Hallows all I want to ask Ms Rowling is WHY? I cried and cried. Even just seeing the name makes me emotional, because well part of the character was in me! It's like I've kind of died in some way. All I can say is GO MRS. WEASLEY! For her fight with _that_ Death Eater after the comment she dared make. I read somewhere that you can have soul-bonded with a character, and I must've soul-bonded with the character (not mentioning the name incase you haven't finished – if you haven't…HURRY UP!). Though the next comment might make it blatantly obvious – sorry! This fic has to be now AU…so sad; never could I have foreseen the day this happened. This fic will now be in memory of that character, and I will do my best to make it a brilliant fic, but I'll need you guys to help!! Sorry for the long A/N!! The quote is for the character, it's actually more of a saying.

**Disclaimer: **its all J. K. Rowlings. Loved Deathly Hallows, but am still reeling over the loss of my favourite character.

**Quote: **"You'll get over it…" It's the clichés that cause the trouble. To lose someone you love is to alter your life forever. You don't get over it because 'it' is the person you loved. The pain stops, there are new people, but the gap never closes. How could it? The particularness of someone who mattered enough to grieve over is not erased by anyone but death. This hole in my heart is in the shape of you and no one else can fit it. Why would I want them to? – Unknown.

* * *

Hermione rose from bed the following morning at ten. It was Thursday and she had no work anymore so put on her slippers and padded downstairs into her kitchen. 

"Morning Hermsy" Fred greeted her from a counter on which he was sitting.

"Fred? Why are you in my kitchen?" Hermione asked cautiously, peering around the door frame for George.

"I live here now. Or have you forgotten already?" He smirked at her.

"Sorry, just slipped my mind. Got any plans for today?" Hermione inquired as she turned on the kettle to boil for a cup of coffee.

"I've got work. Then I'll probably go and collect my stuff from my _old_ house"

"Oh, well try and have fun at work" She tried to make him feel bad about having to work while she had none.

"I will, I own a joke shop incase you've forgotten!" He taunted with a grin.

Hermione glared at him, "Well, you're late. All shops in Diagon Alley open at nine"

"Like I said, I _own_ the joke shop!" He gave her a look that plainly showed he thought her naïve.

Hermione started muttering under her breath about how she'd made a mistake by letting him live with her.

Fred then laughed and started calling her Kreacher which Hermione didn't take kindly to.

She pulled down a cup from a cupboard and set it on the counter so hard that it smashed.

"Oooh, is it someone's time of the month?" He smirked at her.

"FRED! YOU ARE SO ANNOYING" She shrieked at the red head.

"You're so touchy; it _must_ be your time of the month. Need a pain reliever? We've been inventing a new range for girls!"

She charged at him but before she reached him, he waved, at her and Disapparated.

Breathing heavily, Hermione stalked back to the cup and repaired it with a flick of her wand. Exhaling heavily, her nostrils flaring, she voiced her thoughts.

"How _did_ he know it's my time of the month?"

Hermione heard a gleeful laugh and turned to see Fred standing in the middle of the kitchen, his arms folded, and a huge grin on his face.

"A Weasley always knows! Well most of us Weasleys. Trust me, I had to grow up with a hormonal sister, I know the symptoms!"

"What do you mean, you 'had to grow up'? You'll never grow up you're always going to be a child!"

Cackling madly he Disapparated and did not return, leaving a very red faced Hermione Granger in her kitchen, clutching a cup of steaming coffee.

Two hours and many apparitions later Hermione sat in the living room surrounded by boxes and tins of paint. She picked up a paintbrush and dipped it in to the dark purple paint.

"Here goes nothing" she whispered to herself and started painting.

An hour later Fred apparated into the kitchen, then he heard an "Ooof" coming from the living room. As he entered he saw it happen in slow motion, probably thanks to the years of being a beater had helped with the fact he had developed a slow motion way of viewing of incidents.

Hermione lost her balance and toppled backwards off of the crate she'd been standing on. Fred raced over and caught her round the middle, but lost his balance too and they both crashed onto the floor.

Hermione had somehow turned around during the fall and was lying on Fred's stomach and elbowing him in the ribs as she tried to see who she'd landed on.

"Fred, you're home!" She squealed in surprise.

He chuckled as Hermione rolled off him and on to the floor beside him. "Yeah, I just, dropped in on my break – literally" He said still chuckling.

"I was just . . . painting" Hermione gestured lamely up at the wall that was now purple whereas hours before it had been white.

"I can see that"

"Do you like purple and cream for in here?"

Fred, still lying on his back gazed up at the wall, "Yup, I'm okay with that. But I'm guessing that even if I wasn't you'd do it anyway?"

"Good guess!"

"Gee, I feel so at home here, so welcome. Thanks for your consideration!" He said feigning indignance. He got up and pulled Hermione up. Looking around he nodded appreciatively.

"Nice job"

"Thanks"

"But, you do know there's a spell to do all this, yeah?" Fred pointed out, wondering how Hermione Granger didn't know that spell.

"Yeah I know that! I want to do it the muggle way so I can say, 'Look what I painted!' you get me?"

"I got you! Need any help? I mean I can't do it now but maybe later, I can help you paint?"

"Thanks, that'd be great"

"See ya" He said with a salute.

"Bye"

He Disapparated with a soft _pop!_ Then, just as Hermione picked up the paintbrush, there was a loud CRACK!

"Fred! What-?" Hermione cried as she cast a spell to freeze the paint before it hit the floor.

"Sorry, forgot to get my measurements from my room!" He grinned sheepishly down at Hermione. He was smaller than Ron, but he was still taller than Hermione. Fred was the same build as Charlie, shorter and stockier than Ron and Percy who were thin and lanky.

Hermione had crossed her arms and was tapping her foot impatiently on the wooden flooring. Fred then ran up to his room, got the measurements and then raced back downstairs.

"Got them" He panted.

Hermione chuckled at his antics and conjured a goblet of water for him. He drank it all, winked (Hermione guessed in thanks) and then for the third time that day apparated to work.

Hermione shook her head ruefully before continuing on with the painting.

- - - - - -W-W-W- - - - - -

Hermione barely saw Fred over the next week and a half. Because when she got up he was gone and when she went to bed he was still out. It was the following Saturday and Hermione, who was still doing up the house, decided she'd go visit Ginny. She didn't bother changing, even though she was covered in paint and her hair was an absolute mess, because it was just Ginny, so she Disapparated to The Burrow.

"Hello?" Hermione called out gingerly as she opened the front door. The house was so quiet, it was an eerie quiet.

Hermione was just about to check if the Dark Mark was over the house – Voldemort had been defeated but there were still loads of Death Eaters at large – when she heard a giant roar coming from the kitchen.

Hermione crept over to the kitchen and opened the door and felt her eyes widen at the scene before her: the entire Weasley family plus Romilda were in the crowded kitchen and all of them were cheering. One of the twins spotted Hermione and ran over to her.

"Hey book-head! They're getting married! I mean, I always thought it'd be you but Romilda's great! Can you believe it?"

"Fred, what?"

"I'm George. Didn't you hear? Ron and Romilda – they're engaged!"

Hermione instantly felt faint and light-headed. George watched her wearily, eyeing her before making her sit down.

"George, make the room stop spinning. Make it stop" Hermione whined.

"Uh" George was at a loss towards what to do.

Hermione didn't want to draw any attention to her, so stood up, and stumbled out of the kitchen, into the back garden. She hobbled towards the old tyre swing and sat down on it, breathing deeply.

"Hermione? Are you okay?"

"Yes Ronald, absolutely perfect" She said sarcastically. Ron had obviously seen her leave and followed her out here, "Congratulations" She added.

"So, you, er, heard then?" He asked awkwardly.

"It was kind of hard not to"

He scratched his head, trying to think of what to say.

"Well . . . I've got to get back to Romy-"

"Romy?" Hermione asked in disgust.

"It's short for Romilda. Anyway, bye. Are you sure your-"

"I'm fine Ron, really. Leave!" She insisted. Thankfully he left. All Hermione wanted to do was to go home and curl up and die in her bed.

"Hermsy?" Looking up Hermione saw Fred – she could tell it was Fred because he was dressed differently to his brother – leaning against the back door, a huge smirk on his face. She looked back at the ground.

"Freddie" She replied, with her head between her legs.

"So, you've heard?" She needn't say a word; the look she gave him was enough of an answer. He continued, "I take it they won't be getting much of a wedding present from you then?"

"I'm not going to become bitter over the fact that the guy I've been in love with for eight years is marrying Gryffindors number two slut – he dated the number one slut in sixth year – and she's the founder of _Magik Mirror_ the free supplement with the _Prophet_ on Fridays _and_ the daughter of the Minister for Magic, if that's what you think" She said in one breath.

"Well, great thing you don't hold grudges then, eh? Oh, wait, you _do_ hold grudges! I'll never forget those scars your birds gave him!" He said with a dreamy look on his face.

"Can you leave me alone please, I don't feel to well at all and I don't think I'll be able to apparate. Can I borrow some Floo powder?"

"No" Fred replied, suddenly serious.

"Why not" Hermione sulked and pouted her lips – a thing she rarely did!

"Because you'd be in a right bloody state when you get home plus you'd more than likely vomit all over the new floor"

"So what'll I do?" Hermione now couldn't see very clearly, everything was a blur, and her stomach didn't feel so good either.

Fred strode over to the swing and picked Hermione up with both hands and walked back in the door, not even bothering to stop her head hitting the door frame. He then carried a now, near unconscious Hermione up to his old room. He laid her on his old bed and pulled off her t-shirt – it was clung to her with sweat - he tried not to notice the figure on his brothers' best friend. She sleepily pulled the big jersey over her head that he'd just handed her. He then pulled back the blankets and she fell onto the bed. Fred pulled off her track bottoms aswell, determinedly looking at the headboard.

"Thanks" She muttered as he tucked her in.

"Sweet dreams Hermsy" He whispered into her ear as her eyes drooped closed and she entered the realm of sleep.

- - - - - -W-W-W- - - - - -

Hermione opened one bleary eye and knew she wasn't in her own room at home in Cornwall. She was in somebody's room, but didn't now whose. The walls were black in one half and blue in the other. Her side was the blue side. The entire wall space was covered in Posters of bands Hermione didn't recognise except for the shrine to the Weird Sisters. Looking at the duvet she was wrapped in, she noted it was white. The other duvet on the unoccupied bed was green. It was a totally mismatched room.

The door opened and George Weasley entered, carrying an empty breakfast tray.

"Morning Granger! Sleep well?" He smirked.

"Fine actually, no thanks to you George Weasley" She retorted coldly, but with a small smile to show she didn't totally hate him.

"I'm Fred, you know, your new housemate?"

"How do I know you are? How do I know you're not trying to trick me?"

"I'll prove it. Do you remember a few days ago when I offered to do the washing?"

"Yeah"

"And absolutely everything turned out pink!"

"You could've told the _'other twin_' that anytime at work"

"I doubt I'd advertise how inept I am at washing clothes!" Fred asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Oh, well sorry for being cold to you. How do I tell you guys apart anyway?"

Fred stretched his t-shirt and pointed at a tiny dot on his chest, Hermione couldn't see it, "You see that Granger?"

"See what?"

He walked over to the bed and pulled out his t-shirt again.

Hermione put her hand up to the tiny mole (that was more like a freckle) and traced it with her index finger. Fred involuntarily shivered and Hermione pulled her hand away, slightly pink in the face.

"Want some breakfast?" He asked, breaking the tense silence.

"I'd love some but your trays empty, plus, I really need to get up"

Hermione pulled back the duvet and flung her legs over the side of the bed. Only then did she notice she was not wearing her grey trackend and lemon top that she'd had on the previous day. Instead, in its place was a huge Ireland Quidditch jersey.

"From the world cup" Fred quipped.

"Did I change into this last night?"

"Yeah, I might've helped though" He replied slyly.

"WHAT?"

"Sheesh! You're definitely trying to burst my eardrums!"

"DID YOU CHANGE ME?"

Fred didn't reply but grinned and left the room. He closed the door and gave an evil laugh – a Weasley twin laugh, leaving a seething Hermione in his old bedroom.

"Morning Hermione, dear. Did you sleep well? Fred told me you were a bit unwell" Mrs. Weasley said as she hugged Hermione tightly.

"I'm fine now, thanks" Hermione, now dressed in what she'd had on yesterday, said as she sat down at the kitchen table.

"Have you heard? Ron and Romilda they're-"

"Engaged, I know"

"Isn't it wonderful?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she served Hermione a plate of eggs and bacon.

"Fantastic" Hermione said dryly.

"Yes it is. You know, I always thought it'd be you becoming a Weasley, but we're all wrong sometimes aren't we? Eat up, you're looking a bit peaky"

Hermione, all of a sudden wasn't hungry, so she played with her food, Ginny came into the kitchen bickering with Charlie.

"Ireland has no chance without O'Brien" The latter was saying.

"But if they transferred in Kavanagh, they're chances would totally improve" She said heatedly.

"Except transfer periods over"

"What are you-" Hermione started to ask.

"Quidditch" They answered simultaneously.

"Oh" Hermione returned to playing with her food as the two Weasleys continued on with their conversation, now changing the subject to Bulgaria. Then, the one thing that could make Hermione feel even worse happened. Romilda entered the kitchen, wearing one of Rons t-shirts; the same one Hermione had once worn on a morning very much like this one.

"Morning Ginny, Charlie, Molly" She said, her hair swinging behind her up in a ponytail, "Oh, and Hermione" she added with a sneer only Hermione saw.

"Morning love" Mrs. Weasley answered. Romilda sat down opposite Charlie and Ginny. Mrs Weasley, then went out to the back garden

"What are you guys talking about?" She inquired.

"Quidditch" Ginny answered before her brother could even register what was being asked.

"You're talking about Bulgaria?" She asked. Charlie nodded, "I think they should get rid of Krum and get Dugger to play Seeker. They should also so their old formation, the whole Wronski Feint thing isn't working anymore" She said importantly, but when she mentioned Krum and how he wasn't that good anymore, she glanced at Hermione, hoping to make her angry. Hermione wasn't though, she still wrote to Viktor, but he was just a good friend.

"Exactly" Charlie readily agreed.

They then proceeded to talk about the rest of Bulgaria's problems, which apparently, was a lot, Hermione was forgotten. So she got up and started emptying her ruined breakfast in to the bin when the twins came in.

"Fred! George! Romilda's just solved Bulgaria's problem with Krum"

"Really?" They then pulled up a chair each and joined the conversation. Hermione swiftly left and once she was in the hallway, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Hermione, hey"

Turning Hermione saw it was Romilda.

"Hi Romilda"

"Did you hear?"

"Uh, huh – congratulations"

Before Hermione could blink, a hand was blocking her line of vision.

"Do you like it? Its ten carat gold" Romilda said of her ring, it was huge.

"It's lovely. Really" Hermione lied. It looked tacky and cheap, obviously something Romilda had chosen. She turned to leave but before she could take more than two steps, Romilda had pinned her against the wall.

"Get over him. He loves me, not you. He's marrying me, not you" She snarled.

"You don't think I know that? It's been over between us for seven months now. I think you're a bit paranoid"

"Yeah, but you can't get over him, can you?" Romilda accused Hermione.

"Let go of me, I'd like to leave" Hermione muttered knowing, that Romilda had touched a nerve with what she'd said.

"Ha!" She said triumphantly, "I knew it! You actually believe that he's going to leave me and return to you?"

Hermione got a sudden surge of Gryffindor bravery and courage.

"I know exactly where he got you your ring, or should I say, won it. There's a small muggle arcade down the side street by the Leaky Cauldron. There's this machine that helps you pick things up in a box, and your ring is one of the prizes, it costs one pound to play which means your '_precious_' ring is only worth one pound and I hope it turns your finger green you whore!" Hermione spat at her, pulling herself free of Romilda's grasp.

Romilda turned a puce colour, "You're lying", she nearly shouted.

"You think so?" Hermione smirked.

"I'm gonna kill you"

Hermione gave a harsh laugh, "Voldemort failed to kill me, and you think you'll be able to?"

"You bitch!" Romilda raised her hand and made to slap Hermione, who shut her eyes, waiting for the impact and getting ready to strike back, though her bravado was starting to falter, she didn't know if she could stand much longer. She'd love nothing more than to go home and collapse onto her bed.

"What are you doing?" A familiar voice interrupted her thoughts

"Ronny! I was just showing 'Mione, here, my engagement ring. I had to put it into the light, to get its full effect though" Romilda lied instantly, dropping her hand. Hermione opened her eyes and saw Ron at the foot of the stairs; he looked freshly showered, and was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. His hair was still a bit damp and he smelled delicious. He looked past Romilda, straight at Hermione.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his features covered in concern.

"Fine" Hermione managed, trying not to breathe in his wonderful scent, afraid in case she might just faint.

"Come on Ronny, Molly's gonna make breakfast for us" Romilda said sweetly, tugging on his arm and pulling him towards the kitchen. Ron let her drag him away but kept his eyes on Hermione until the kitchen door swung shut, once the door closed Hermione apparated back home to Cornwall.

She undressed as she filled the bathtub in her newly refurbished main bathroom. Minutes later Hermione was in the bath that was now filled with bubbles. She muttered a spell and flicked her wand and she lit the candles around the bath and just lay there, listening to the rain outside. Hammer against the window panes.

After nearly an hour in there, she got out, nearly shrivelled to a prune She changed into her favourite pyjamas, a Gryffindor lion on a red shirt and gold trousers, and she climbed onto her window seat in the bay window in her room, staring out at the turbulent sea, getting wrapped up in its ferociousness.

Her room was painted a chocolate brown colour. Then her bed spread was turquoise – her favourite colour. The window seat was turquoise aswell, but it had pink and turquoise checked cushions all around it. A pine floor and dressers filled the room, but the paintings and pictures around the room finished it. There was one above her bed, of Harry, Ron and herself, they'd gotten it done in their last Christmas at Hogwarts, one each. But, Hermione thought, Rons has probably been 'accidentally' burned by Romilda.

She sat there for hours. Hermione heard Fred come into the house. He watched TV for awhile, Hermione had taught him how to use it on his third day, but didn't hear him enter her room, she was, once again, after being mesmerised by the sea and its motions.

"Granger, you okay?"

Hermione didn't hear him.

"Hello? Earth to Hermione!"

"Fred! What are you doing in here?" Hermione yelped in surprise.

"I came up to check if you wanted any dinner. Do you?"

"No thanks"

"You've got to eat. I _know_ you didn't have any breakfast and nothing was touched downstairs, so you haven't eaten here either"

"I'm not hungry" She retorted defiantly, then, betraying itself, her stomach gave a loud rumble.

Fred smirked, "Okay, whatever you say"

He turned to leave-

"WAIT! Maybe, I am…a little hungry" Hermione said looking at her feet.

Fred grinned and Hermione, despite her mood gave him a small smile. She put on her slippers and followed him downstairs.

"So, what do you want to eat?" He asked once in the kitchen.

"Er…what do _you_ want to eat?"

"I could murder a peetza" He said licking his lips.

"Fred, I think you mean, pizza"

"That's what I said, peetza!"

"Okay, Peetza it is!" Hermione smiled.

"Granger, we don't have peetza!" He pouted.

"Hold your horses"

"My what?" He asked indignantly.

"Horses" Hermione replied absent mindedly as she turned on the computer her parents had let her take from their house.

"Why would I want to mind horses? I don't have any horses"

"It's a muggle saying"

"A saying about what? Horses?" He scoffed.

"It means – slow down"

"Oh, well, why don't muggles just say 'Slow down' instead?"

"I don't know"

"Why can't they say, Hold your brooms?"

"Yeah, because every muggle has a broom, come on Fred, I thought you were smart!"

"You did?" He asked, surprised.

"Yup"

"But you always gave out to us in school-"

"You didn't start Weasleys Wizard Wheezes out of having dung for brains did you?"

Fred was stunned, he never thought in his entire lifetime he'd hear Hermione Jane Granger praising him and his brother, though, technically, she never mentioned George, so she really was praising him.

Hermione was now logging onto WWWD – Wizarding Wide World Delivery. She ordered pizza dough, tomato purée, cheese, pepperoni, and on Fred's behalf, olives and artichokes. Seconds later the doorbell rang. Fred, totally puzzled, went and answered it. He came back in a minute later, carrying a small bag bearing the WWWD logo on it.

"Foods here" He said loudly, then he laid everything out on a countertop.

"What do we do now Hermsy?"

"We make peetza Freddie, we make peetza" Hermione replied simply.

The next thirty minutes were spent mostly laughing. Hermione soon realised Fred was no cook. His 'peetza' got stuck to the ceiling twice and had had to be remade. When everything was cooked they sat down at the kitchen table.

"So", Fred said as he admired his peetza, "What's the deal with you and Romilda? Her and Ron were having an argument this morning, went on for ages and then she huffed out upstairs. Then Mom made Ron go apologise though he really didn't want to"

"What deal? There's no deal" Hermione said weakly, ignoring the cheering that was going on in her head that they'd had an argument.

"Sure, and I'm not a Weasley"

"That makes no sense whatsoever" Hermione said shaking her head.

"Maybe to you and the sane man, you see, to the sane man it's totally insane, but to the insane man, it's totally sane"

"What about the women?"

"Huh?"

"You said 'the sane man' what about the women?"

"It's only a saying!" He said, mocking Hermione from before. He then bit into his olive, artichoke and pepperoni and cheese peetza. There was a comfortable silence between the two, maybe for five minutes.

"I guess I'd just not come to terms with him dating her, and now they're engaged. It's all after happening so"

"Do NOT say fast. You guys were over for four months before he met Romilda. So, I think your problem is that you haven't had a rebound guy" He said knowledgably.

"A what guy?"

"A rebound guy, you know, to get you over Ron, or as he's now to be known as - Ronny!" He said with an evil smirk.

They cleaned up and then moved into the sitting room chatting away about everything and anything. Then Hermione suggested watching a move. Fred readily agreed, he was in love with the TV set. Hermione put on Anastasia, an animated movie that was one of her favourites. Fred was not impressed.

"What's it about?"

"Its about this Princess - Anastasia. She's lost her memory and all she has is a necklace that says 'Together in Paris'. So she finds Pooka – a dog. And they both set off for St. Petersburg, it's set in Russia. There she finds Dimitri, a crook who's trying to find fake Anastasias, bring them to Paris and claim the reward money her grandmother is giving, and Vlad, his accomplice. But there's an evil guy and you're just gonna have to watch it" Hermione finished.

It turned out that Fred loved the film. He helped Hermione upstairs and under her covers.

"Night Granger"

"Fred?" She called out sleepily.

"Yes?"

"Will you be my rebound guy? To get me over Ron? Please?"

He chuckled softly, "No Granger, I don't want to be your rebound guy"

It occurred to him, while he was lying on his bed, trying to get to sleep, that in a way, Hermione was like Anastasia, trying to find happiness in the unknown, how she'd taken in an abandoned animal, how they both had to fight an evil guy. She'd confessed to wanting to be a princess, and wear a gown and tiara like in the film. But she didn't have her Dimitri. Sure she had Harry and Ron, who'd do anything for her but she wanted someone who'd do anything for her, but who'd love her too. Could she find her Dimitri?

Fred fell into a weird dream…where his name was Dimitri, but when he woke up at three in the morning he'd forgotten it, and turned over and fell back to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: **I hope this is okay and that you like it! Once again, sorry for the delay. Next chapter is her date with Dean! I'd like to thank all my reviewers kalian-blue, H Toones, SnarkyGirl91, MaskOfComedy, ThiefMaiden, Yzak Lover Extraordinaire, Zille, Trix are for kids, Alyssa Lew and SecretThought. Thank you all so so so much. 

SnarkyGirl: Dean is here so that Hermione can date and Fred can realise he likes her!!

Zille: I _am_ absolutley devastated, my A/N probably explains it all. Thank you, it was your comment that inspired me to keep going I thought no one would want a Mioned now because we know the ending. Thanks.

Love Always, FirebolT-PheoniX,

X x O x X

Once again guys REVIEW review REVIEW review REVIEW review REIVEW review!


	4. Breaking the Dam

**Authors Note:**  
I know! Before you even say it, I know! The thing is I'd gotten it into my head that all my stories were rubbish and I gave up. But I looked back over them a few days ago and realised they're not half bad, so I'm continuing. I don't know how long it will be before I update next. I'm saying two weeks max, but then again, you never know… it might be two days!

I hope you enjoy this instalment. Here it is (finally)…

**Disclaimer:** J.K. Rowling owns it all! Except the plot!!

**Quote: **Perhaps our eyes need to be washed by out tears once in a while, so that we can see life with a clearer view again!

* * *

**Breaking the Dam  
**

Hermione and Fred grew close, well, as close as two opposites can be, over the next few weeks. He was the perfect housemate and very entertaining. Hermione told him this one Wednesday and his reply was, "I _am _a co-founder of Weasleys Wizards Wheezes".

Soon, really soon was Hermiones date with Dean, like tonight soon. And Hermione had absolutely no idea what to wear. So she decided to enlist Fred's help.

She walked down the hall to his room and knocked twice on the wooden door.

"Yellow?" He called from inside.

"It's Hermione"

"Who else could it be? There's only the two of us in the house!"

She opened the door, glaring at him, but then her expression changed. She smiled at her house-mate. Fred was painting 'Weasleys Wizards Wheezes' onto his blue wall, wearing jeans and a hoodie.

"Are you finished decorating yet?" Hermione asked as she sat on the edge of his king-sized bed.

"Nearly, I just gotta paint that wall over there" He pointed at the one near the window. It was currently cream. Though what colour he intended to paint it, Hermione had no idea, "What'd you want anyway?" He asked her, wiping the excess paint off his hands and onto his hoodie.

"I need your help" Hermione announced. Freds mouth opened and he looked like a fish, "I need you to help dress me" Hermione continued, enjoying winding him up. His open mouth widened, "For a date" His jaw was nearly detached from his face, "With Dean Thomas" It shut straight away, "Is that okay?" Hermione finished.

"Yeah of course, why else would you want me to dress you?" Fred asked, smirking at her. He followed Hermione out of his room and into hers. He sat on her window seat and stared at her.

"Okay, so I don't know whether to wear my black dress. My new jeans or my white skirt" Hermione informed him slowly.

"Try them on"

"What? All of them?"

Fred nodded. Hermione sighed as she got her skirt and a top out of a dresser.

"No peaking" She told him and he smothered his face with one of her pillows.

Fred was lucky Hermione couldn't see his face because at that moment he was grinning like a fool into her pillow.

"Can I look yet Hermsy?" He asked after a minute.

"Uh – yeah"

He took away the pillow from his eyes. It was weird seeing Hermione out of her non-flattering clothes and robes, but in skirts and tight tops.

"Out of ten?" She asked tentatively, fingering the lace at the hem of skirt.

Fred looked her over. The white knee length skirt had two layers and was pulled up in places and tied with pink bows. Her top was a pale pink vest top; it was layered over a white t-shirt and looked gorgeous. But for some reason Fred wanted to see her in the others and let Dean see her in none.

"Six" He told her, looking at what she was wearing and internally thinking it was an eight or nine.

"Okay, turn around, I'm changing"

"It's not like its anything I've never seen before. On other girls obviously, but I saw you in a bathing suit! And that time you walked into my room at home thinking it was Ginny's after you'd showered!" He taunted in a sing-song voice.

"I know. How could I forget?" Hermione said, blushing furiously, "But turn around anyway"

He did as he was told and covered his face with the pillow again. He could hear her undressing and re-dressing and experienced the strange sensation that came when goosebumps appeared on your arms.

"I'm ready" He heard Hermione say.

He dropped the pillow.

"Whoa" Fred was stunned.

"What?" She asked, tugging at a strand of her curly hair nervously.

Her jeans were a skinny fit and looked like they were painted on. They were dark denim, nearly black. She wore a silver metallic top with two chunky black straps. Her shoes were silver ballet pumps.

"You look…" Fred couldn't think of anything to say.

"Oh Merlin! Fred Weasley is speechless, probably for the first time in his life!" Hermione teased.

"Actually, I had Laryngitis when I was ten!" He said, paling at the memory.

"Well?" She pressed.

"Uh, a bare seven. You're only scraping it though!" Fred joked. Hermione stuck out her tongue at him.

He really didn't want Dean to see Hermione looking like this! Fred hoped to god that her next outfit was a bin bag so he could tell her to wear that out with Dean. But after seeing her like this, he figured she could pull that off any day!

"Okay, last time. Close your eyes" Hermione instructed.

Fred shut his eyes and covered them with his hands. He spread out his fingers, trying to catch a glimpse of her. Her back was turned towards him. It was tanned and had a few freckles. It seemed to go on forever and to stop himself from reaching out and grabbing her he shut his eyes and put the pillow back up to his face.

"Ahem" Hermione gave a very Umbridge-like cough, interrupting his mental war.

He turned and caught his breath. She had put on sandals to give the dress effect; it came to above her knees. It had a square neckline, showing the tiniest hint of her cleavage. It was simple black with a metallic silver belt under her bust. She twirled. She looked perfect in Freds' opinion but he couldn't let her know that.

"Eight" He hoarsely managed to say, after his voice had returned.

"So, this one, I should wear tonight then?" Hermione asked him, her brown eyes searching his blue ones.

"Uh…whatever you're most comfortable in" He replied roughly, looking out the window, hoping his eyes didn't give away what he really thought of her in the dress.

She smiled, showing perfect teeth, thanks to Madam Pompfrey in fourth year. How had he never noticed her before now??

_She's Rons best friend and his ex-girlfriend. She's a no-go zone. Just act like her goofy house-mate. _He scolded himself. He was, and only ever would be two things in her eyes; firstly, her house-mate and secondly, Rons older brother.

"You look gorgeous Hermione" He told her honestly.

She blushed and looked at the floor, he took his chance. Fred charged at her and threw her over his shoulder in a rugby tackle.

"FRED WEASLEY! PUT ME DOWN _NOW_!" She screeched.

He ran downstairs with her over his shoulder, screaming bloody murder.

"FRED!" She roared at him while slapping his back. She was trying to hurt him so that he'd put her down, but he didn't feel a thing.

"HERMIONE" He screamed back at her. She managed to reach a cushion and whacked him across the head.

"ARGH!" Soon he'd dropped her onto the sofa but a pillow fight had ensued. Neither of them noticed Dean watching from the front window.

"Let-go-of-me" Hermione said as Fred had grabbed her around the waist. Each word meant he got hit with a cushion. He swung her around; she was laughing though, so much she could barely breathe.

"Oh No! HERMSY!" He roared dramatically.

Fred then proceeded to act like a doctor, conjuring up the uniform and all, which sent Hermione into another fit of hysterics.

"Is CPR okay with you Madam?" He asked, faking seriousness. Hermione was now shaking on the floor with laughter.

"Okay" Fred said grinning, his eyes lighting up, "Here I go-"

RRRING!

"Uh – Fred – door" Hermione managed, gasping for air.

"I _can_ hear y'know!"

He strode over and pulled the door open, his grin becoming a scowl as he saw it was Dean Thomas.

"Dean" He said then stepped aside.

"Oh! Dean! Talk with Fred, give me five minutes" Hermione ran back upstairs like a bullet, leaving an extremely tense atmosphere at the door. Fred waved his wand and the Doctors Scrubs disappeared and he was back in his jeans and his paint stained hoodie.

"So" Dean said, swinging his arms awkwardly, "You live here now?"

"I have since her second night here" Fred replied coolly.

After a short silence Dean spoke again, "How's Weasley Wizard Wheezes going for you and George?"

Fred looked at him. He was wearing a shirt over dressy jeans and a suit jacket.

"It's going just fine, thanks" said Fred. He glared at Dean who started playing with his fingernails under the intensity.

Hermione appeared, running down the stairs, wearing the skirt, top and ballet pumps. She'd dressed it up with a wrap. Fred wondered what had happened to her 'little black dress', so too, he noted had Dean, his eyes were puzzled and one eyebrow quirked up in surprise. But then he smiled at her.

Hermione said goodbye to Fred, who merely nodded, his eyes fixed on Dean. They left and Fred closed the door, watching them dissapparate, holding hands.

"Stupid Dean bloody Thomas. What's he got that I don't?" He shouted at the purple wall. His paranoia got the better of him and everywhere he looked he saw Dean with Hermione.

"Get OUT of my house!" He roared at the wall again. He got so frustrated he punched the said wall in a flash of fury, with all the strength he could muster. He made a massive hole. Pulling his hand away, he saw his whole hand covered in blood; his knuckles had split open and he felt like he'd sprained his wrist

"Shit. That hurt" He muttered, trying to stop himself groaning in agony. He heard the distant rumble of thunder.

"A storm! How absolutely fantastic" He grumbled sarcastically to the empty room.

Fred resigned himself to a night infront of the TV with chocolate frogs and pumpkin pasties. He put frozen peas on his hand to numb the painful throbbing and the ache in his wrist. Turning on the television he found that his favourite show, Jerry Springer, was on.

"Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!" He chanted aloud with the audience. After ten minutes or so his mind began to wander.

_Where did he take her? Does Hermione even like him? __Of course she does you idiot, why else would she go out with him?__ But why'd she change her clothes? Not that I'm complaining, I don't want him ogling her all night. Have they kissed by now? Will she stay at his house and then they fall madly in love and I have to move out for him to move in? And I become like, a guy, not even Freddie to Hermione anymore. I could so not do that. But I should be able to. I mean I'm only acting like any protective brother would, right?_ A voice in his head sniggered. _Right, because you don't have any feelings for her at all!__ Shut up you fool! She's just Rons bossy, bookworm of a best friend who I happen to live with now. Note to self: Watch something else to take your mind off her._

Just when Fred had calmed himself down he 'saw' Hermione and Dean kissing. He threw a vase at them and it shattered against the wall, because it was all in his mind, his very confused, jealous and angry mind.

Fred then decided Jerry couldn't help him so he 'accioed' himself a bottle of firewhisky and he put on his favourite movie. Hermione had rented it out for him two weeks ago, but he'd loved it so much that she'd bought it for him. He vaguely remembered her blushing as he'd hugged her as thanks. He pressed play and was soon engrossed in the story. Groundhog Day, is a movie where a muggle actor Bill Murray, woke up to find the day repeating itself, and he had to figure out what was making this happen. Three hours, and two movies later, Fred was getting anxious, more so than he'd been all night.

_Where are they?_

He got out another movie and was about to put it in the DVD player when he heard a soft 'pop' outside, and then he heard two voices. Fred froze in his actions, listening intently. He couldn't hear anything.

"Accio, Extendable Ears" He whispered, flicking his wand.

His and George's Extendable Ears were probably their best invention to date yet. He put one in his ear and the flesh coloured wire went out an open window.

"…great time with you Hermione" Dean was saying.

"I had a great time too. I never knew you were that funny!"

"Yeah, well, most of it was unintentional. I mean the thing I said to the waiter for instance. I thought I was saying it was nice place"

Hermione burst out laughing.

"How was I to know I was inviting him to a strip club?" Dean finished. He was laughing along with Hermione now.

Fred was really confused. _He brought Hermione to a strip club?_

"Well Dean, next time I think I should pick where we go!" Hermione said with a small laugh.

"N-next time?" Dean asked, sounding perplexed. Fred leaned closer even though there was no need. He just had to hear her reply; Dean was voicing Fred's thoughts.

"Yeah, why not?" Hermione asked.

Because this date was such a disaster. I mean look at us, we're soaked! We fell into a lake! How can that be a good thing?"

"Dean, you're a great guy. And that's what I'd like to get to know you as. Not Dean from school or Dean my old boss, but just… Dean!"

Dean laughed and Fred caught a glimpse of him, through the curtain, as he tucked a strand of Hermiones hair behind her ear. Hermione smiled up at him. Jealousy unlike anything he'd experienced before boiled up inside Fred.

"Night Dean" Hermione said softly.

"Good night Hermione" Dean leaned in and kissed Hermiones cheek, and then he apparated away.

Fred tugged the ears back and managed to vanish them just as Hermione entered the house.

"Nice night?" He asked. Fred was horrified to hear his voice sound so cold. Hermione looked taken aback.

"Uh huh" She answered absently, her eyes taking in the room, "What… er… only, what happened here?" She asked, with one eyebrow raised.

Fred looked around, cringing at the mess. There was the hole in the wall, the broken vase, the frozen peas, cushions everywhere.

"I, uh, was watching wrestling. Sorry" He finally managed. Hermione thought nothing of his feeble excuse, and cleaned the room with a wave of her wand, "Scourigfy"

"So… your night… Was it good?" Fred asked again, his voice back to normal, except for a slight edge he couldn't rid it of.

Hermione didn't answer right away. She took off her shoes and her wrap and walked out to the kitchen to boil the kettle. Her hair was soaked, and her clothes were stuck to her. They showed off her figure even better when they were wet. Fred was annoyed at himself for noticing this. She turned to face Fred who'd followed her out.

"It was a brilliant night. He's really funny" Hermione said, getting out a mug for herself.

"Oh, really?" Fred asked, trying to keep his tone polite.

_I'm funny! I own a joke shop! How much funnier can you get??_

"Yeah. He took me to France actually" She said, smiling slightly.

"WHAT?" Fred yelped, stunned, "FRANCE?"

"I know! I said the same thing! He was trying to impress me by speaking French but got all muddled up. It was so cute"

Fred managed a harsh laugh. Because he new she was waiting for one.

"Then we were just walking around, and before I knew it, he'd pushed me playfully and I kind of tripped. Then we both fell into a lake!" Hermione finished, her eyes wide.

"Are you going to see him again? Do you like him?" Fred asked, a not of urgency in his voice, that he hoped Hermione didn't pick up on.

Hermione took her time to answer. She made herself a cup of coffee, as the kettle had boiled.

"I can't tell after one date Fred! Jeez, give a girl a break!" Hermione said jokingly, rolling her eyes.

"But shouldn't you know?" Fred persisted, wanting to know for certain, "Shouldn't here be… a spark or something?"

"It's just… time is going by so fast. I feel like in a blink years have passed. Ron's engaged and Harry's dating Luna…" Hermione said quietly.

"Lovegood?" Fred asked, shocked.

"The one and only" She said, smiling.

"I did not see that one coming" Fred said, shaking his head.

"I think I will see Dean again" Hermione said after a pause. She sipped her coffee, "I mean, there's no one else and Dean's a decent guy, so why not? Because at his rate everyone will be married with children and I'll be their 'single best friend' who slowly becomes 'the babysitter'. So why shouldn't I go out with Dean, I don't want to be lonely any more. We'll see where it goes. I need someone, because even when I was with Ron, I was still alone. I always am… ever since… Hagrid" Hermione spoke softly, but she barely whispered Hagrids name. She turned her head and looked out the kitchen window at the restless sea.

Fred tried to think of the last time Hermiones eyes had shone brightly. And it stunned him to realise it was just before the war, the last time he'd seen her truly happy, was when she gave Harry, Ron, and Hagrid a big hug, each in turn, on the night before the final battle. He remembered Hagrid hugging her tightly, and patting her so that her knees buckled. She'd laughed and made him promise to do it on her birthday. Fred shook his head to get rid of tears that threatened to fall as he remembered his friend. Hagrid hadn't lived to keep his promise to Hermione. And she hadn't been the same since. He'd always though of her as what held the trio together, but sadly he noted that they weren't the same trio they'd always been. Hermione was just a shell of her former self. She'd become fragile and depressed, immersing herself into her dead end job, and no had noticed. Not even Harry and Ron, who were her supposed two best friends.

As Fred looked at her, he saw a single tear roll down her face.

"Hermione, don't cry" He said softly.

She looked up at him with pools of tears forming in her eyes.

"I'm not crying" She whispered.

He put his hand on her face and collected one of her tears that were now sliding down her face, on to his index finger. He held the tear drop up for her to see.

"Then what's this?" He asked her, laughing slightly.

"Water" She said, giving him a feeble smile.

"Of course it is! Why would I even think that it was a tear?" He stared at her, remembering her clothes were soaked.

_She must be frozen._

"Come here" Fred said as he pulled her towards him. She put her mug down and rested her head on his shoulder.  
"I'll mind you" Fred said soothingly.  
He started drawing small circles on her back. Slowly Hermione wrapped her arms around him. She sniffed, trying to stop crying, but she couldn't hold back the tears, and after a few minutes it was like a damn broke and the tears came crashing down. She cried for hours, every sob making her shake. She clung to Fred, he was the only thing that could save her in this flood. With every new sob of Hermione's, Fred's heart ached. He had never seen anyone this distraught. It was hard for him because he could always make people laugh. But he couldn't do anything in this situation except to let her cry… to hold her… to be there for her.

Just as light started to brighten up the black horizon, Hermiones tears finally stopped. He cupped her chin in his hand and tilted her face up to his.

"You okay now Mione?" Fred asked her quietly, smiling down at her.

She sniffed, "Yeah… now… thanks to you" Her voice was all cracked from crying.

"I didn't do anything" Fred replied, wondering what she thought he'd done.

"You were there for me. No ones been there for me… not for a long time" She looked away as she said this.

Fred surprised himself for feeling anger of all things.

_I need to have a long talk with Harry and Ron soon._

"Thank you Fred Weasley. Thank you so much" Hermione said quietly. She stood up on her tip toes and kissed him on the cheek. She went up to finally get some well needed sleep.

This left Fred slightly pink as his skin tingled where her lips had touched his cheek. He was alone except for his thoughts.

_Hermione… I will always be here. If it's the last thing I do I will save you. I'll make you eyes shine…I promise._

"I promise" Fred muttered to himself, "I'll save you Mione"

Then he looked outside and saw the sun had nearly fully risen. So he headed up to bed. First he wrote George an owl, to say he'd be late for work. Then he crashed onto his bed, and drifted off to sleep. Thinking that, at least for now, Hermione was okay.

* * *

**Authors Note:**  
So there you have it! I hope it wasn't too depressing but Hermione needs to cleanse herself of her depression so… she had to cry! Also I got my hair cut today and I totally hate it, so maybe that's why this is the most depressing instalment! Sorry! The next chapter will be much more light hearted and will have Fred back to his best! And a shocking letter arrives with Pigwidgeon! Oooh! The anticipation! I've it written out already, I just have to add to it and type it up! Shouldn't take too long! So if you have time, please let me know what you thought! I hope the ends of chapters aren't becoming repetitive, but I like ending them with Fred and his last thought always being of Hermione!

Love (as always!),

_**F**_irebolt_**P**_heonix


	5. Getting out of Limbo

**Authors Note:**  
Look, an update! Soon after the other one! I'm shocking myself! I hope you like this chapter. This is one of my favourite chapters! I don't know why, but it was fun to write I guess! I love the imagery of Fred at the beach!! Read on…

**Disclaimer:** Everything is J. K. Rowlings. I own nothing!!

**Quote:** Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections –_ unknown_

* * *

**Getting out of Limbo**

Fred crept into Hermiones room and then he leapt onto her bed. He began bouncing up and down on it, nearly crushing her legs in the process.

"Wakey, wakey" He shouted.

"What s'matter?" Hermione asked, sitting up in bed like a rocket.

"Breakfast! Downstairs in two minutes!" Fred said and then he jumped off the bed and sprinted out of her room.

Hermione slumped back onto her mattress.

"Breakfast? He can't cook" Hermione mumbled as she turned over in her bed, trying to return to sleep. But her curiosity got the better of her and she headed downstairs.

Once in the kitchen Hermione realised Fred was gone. But her mouth hung open and her eyes widened as she stared at the food. The kitchen table was groaning under the weight of having every sort of breakfast delicacy imaginable on it. It was like the worlds greatest buffet.

Hermione put what she wanted on a plate and put it on the counter top as there was no space at the table. Then she pulled down the jar of coffee only to find a note was stuck to its cap. It was written in very loopy handwriting with a lot of smiley faces. It read:

_Hermsy__,_

_Coffee is __not__ healthy for you and it gives people bad breath! So I've charmed this jar so that it won't open. No more coffee for you… why not try a smoothie instead? They're delicious and nutritious! Anyway, I hope you enjoy breakfast. I cooked it myself… okay no I didn't; I got it from the bakery in town. Eat up! Have a good day! Pip Pip!_

_Freddie_

Hermione laughed at his note, she ended up making herself a smoothie. He was right, they were delicious! Hermione then changed out of her pyjamas and into jeans and a vest top. She then took to hanging photos and paintings on the walls in the kitchen. When she finished two hours later, she checked the time and saw that it was two in the afternoon. Hermione decided to make herself another smoothie. Just as she reached for the strawberries she shrieked and dropped her glass as a voice, Fred's voice actually, filled the kitchen.

"Afternoon Granger!" His voice was loud and clear as if he were in the room but he wasn't, no one was except a frozen Hermione.

"Bet this is freaking you out!" His voice continued, laughing at himself, "I bet you're thinking of making another smoothie? Well don't. Why not come down to the beach? Could you do that now? And make the smoothie later? This is Fred Weasley… over and out…" And then there was no sound except for Hermione taking calming breaths to steady herself. For some reason, unbeknownst to herself, she decided she would head down to the beach. So she went up to her room and changed into a yellow swimsuit, she put white shorts on over it. Thinking a swim would clear her head.

Hermione headed out into her garden and down the old stone steps that led to the beach. There were at least fifty and she took it a step at a time so as not to kill herself! Once she reached the sand she kicked off her sandals and the let the grains of golden goodness tickle her feet.

This was her first time down here and much to her surprise she discovered that she actually had her own private beach, it was a small stretch of sand and then two cliffs cut it off from the outside world, making the water calmer than the open sea.

Hermione suddenly felt cold. It was as if she'd started to come out of her shell, had gotten the smallest glimpse of the real world only to have her shell close itself. So she just stood on the shore for while, not bothering to go swimming now. She watched the waves come and go. Hermione listened to them crash softly against the cliffs.

"GRANGER!"

Hermione froze. She knew that voice. But it sounded distorted and strange as though she was hearing a muffled version of it. Looking up she saw nothing put a pool of red in the middle of the sea. Then a head popped up.

"Granger over here!" It was Fred, he was swimming. And he thought for some unknown reason that Hermione would like to join him. She shook her head vigorously.

_As if! _Hermione scoffed to herself.

Then before she knew what was happening, Fred waded out of the water, his t-shirt and what looked like his boxers clinging to him. Hermione blushed, but luckily you couldn't tell as her cheeks and nose were red from being out in the cold anyway.

_But still…I'm blushing because of Fred Weasley!_ She thought to herself. _Who wouldn't?_ A sly voice in her head asked.

Hermione shook her head and faced Fred, trying hard not to blush as he reached her, his hair dripping wet but a huge grin spread across his freckled face as he stopped infront of Hermione.

"So I guess my spell worked then? You heard my voice!" He asked gleefuly.

"How did you do it? It sounded so real!" Hermione was in awe, she never knew Fred had so much knowledge.

"It was just a simple medley of spells. They're so easy that even _you_ could work it out for yourself and it's pointless for me to waste my time explaining!" Fred said lightly.

"What do you mean by 'even me' Fred?" Hermione asked glaring at him.

Fred said nothing but just continued grinning at her.

"Fred, if you have any notion that I'm going in there" Hermione told him, pointing at the blue sea, "Then you're sorely mistaken"

"Granger, why would I even think such a thing?" he asked her, grinning wickedly now.

"Because you're Fred Weasley! You live for tormenting people!" Hermione stammered.

"Not tormenting people. I love to make people laugh; if tormenting others is involved in the process but laughter is the finished product then I believe the end justifies the means!" Fred laughed as he finished speaking.

"What are you laughing at now?" Hermione demanded.

"Oooh, somebody's in a bad mood" He teased.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever" She muttered.

Fred winked at her and then ran back into the sea. For some reason Hermione saw his sprint as a slow motion run, somewhat reminiscent of Bay Watch, she just couldn't take her eyes of him.

_Why?_ She asked herself. But as she looked at Fred all she could see was his torso now. Which wasn't a bad thing, his t-shirt was wetter than before now that he was half submerged in the sea again. It clung to his body. Hermione blushed, a deep scarlet this time.

_What's wrong with me today?_

"Miss Hermione Jean Granger, get your butt in here this instant!" He yelled at her.

Hermione knew that if she didn't he'd just come and drag her in so she slipped out of her shorts, and feeling extremely self-conscious she too waded into the sea. It was freezing. But she kept her eyes on Fred and clenched her jaw to stop her teeth chattering. Finally she reached him. Fred was standing and you could see most of him from the waist up. But he was taller than Hermione, who was shorter than everyone, so you could only see her neck and her head, but that was even with her standing on her tippy-toes.

"Nice huh?" Fred asked, smirking.

Hermione blushed, thinking he had seen her wandering eyes and was on about his tight t-shirt.

"Not that!" He laughed, "Ooh, Granger's checking me out!" He guffawed. Hermione couldn't help but blush a deeper shade than the last time, she then buried her face in her hands. This appeared to make Freds grin if possible, even wider.

"Shut up!" Hermione moaned. She took her face from her hands and continued on, "What makes you think you're worth blushing at anyway? I could be blushing at-"

"What the rocks? There's no one else here" He laughed, "Granger who wouldn't blush at me?"

Hermiones blush left her cheeks instantly, "FRED…ugh…you are so… conceited! Get over yourself!" Hermione exploded, her eyes burning.

"Whoa, what brought this on?" Fred asked, his eyes narrowing, 2Are you pregnant? You're having a lot of mood swings today! Is it Deans?"

"You brought this on! Maybe you should try not to boast next time you're chatting someone up. And Dean and I were on one date! So no, I'm not pregnant!"

"But… Hermsy… who said I was chatting you up? Are you saying though, that if you were pregnant it would be Deans?" Fred's eyes were now sparkling again; they rivalled the sea for their colour.

Hermione couldn't retort, so stayed silent. She poured all her efforts into keeping her head above water.

"Come on Granger, now who's conceited?" Fred grinned. He then nudged her trying to get any sort of reaction.

Hermione stared stonily back at him, her brown eyes harsh.

Fred then pouted his bottom lip, and blinked continuously, his long lashes sweeping over his sky blue eyes.

Hermione felt her self caving in but didn't let him know that. Fred then knew he had to do more to convince her he was innocent, so he took her hand and intertwined it with his. Hermiones hand was tiny compared to Freds. She slowly raised her eyes from their joined hands and met his eyes. Something like electricity ran through him, but for Fred, that moment was the most perfect moment of his life. Unknown to him, Hermione was shocking herself by thinking the exact same thing.

She then, not knowing what to do, splashed Fred with her other hand. He blanched, dropping her hand. Hermione stared up at him for what seemed like forever, but was really only a few seconds. Then he grinned, his eyes lit up and Hermione was pulled underwater, her hair finally getting wet.

And so ensued the fiercest water fight Cornwall has ever been home to.

Fred, after submerging Hermione cheered and did a victory dance, only to be jumped on from behind from a soaked Hermione who had wasted no time in retaliating. They splashed, dived, ducked, lunged, leaped, swam and laughed until they were more shrivelled than the worlds most shrivelled prunes.  
Finally they staggered out of the water. Fred was ahead of Hermione. He collapsed onto the sand, breathing hard and fast. He took in Hermione in all her glorious swimsuit. He'd never seen her look like that. Not even last night when she'd tried on her clothes. He had a lopsided smile on his face. Looking up he saw Hermione with a mischievous grin playing out on her lips, staring down at him.

"What?" He asked. He continued to stare at her, he'd never seen Hermione this playful before, it was endearing. What he was not expecting was for Hermione to kick water at him.

A wave crashed over him as Hermione ran for the house; laughing the entire way and screaming at the top of her lungs "I win!"

It only took him a few seconds to recover from the shock. And then he raced after her.

She was in the garden by the time he reached the top of the steps. He felt as if he could pass out but one look at Hermione grinning at him rejuvenated him, more than he could've imagined.

"So…" He smirked, "You think that was funny do you?"

Hermione nodded, "I sure do!"

"Yhoo have made a very bahd mistake. Yhoo have messed vit ze wrong vizard" He said in a thick accent, a cross between German and Russian, "Now, let me see… vat am I going to do vit yhoo?" He grinned evilly at Hermione, "Ah, yes… zer is really no ozer option. Yhoo must be submitted to torture, of ze vickedest vorm. I call it…" He raised his eyes to hers, she was feet from him, "ze ticklemania! Yhoo have been varned!"

Hermione ran but only got a few paces from him before his arms wrapped themselves around her waist. She shrieked as he swung her round. Fred then turned her to face him.

"I did varn yu. I told yu to run…yu made a terrible mistake. And now…yu vill die! Mwahaha"

He then tickled Hermione into oblivion. She laughed until she cried. Finally he stopped. Hermione was gasping for air. And they were lying on the grass.

"I did warn you though! You cannot say I didn't!" He said laughing, his accent had disappeared.

His hair was falling into his eyes. Hermione liked it that way. But Fred brushed it back. Hermione slowly raised her hand until her fingers were running through his hair. She looked at him for confirmation. He nodded, not taking his eyes from hers. Neither of them spoke. She slowly pulled his hair down to where it had been, but not so that it disrupted his vision. She kept her hand on his face. Hermione brought it down his face, her fingers lingering on his lips, before she clenched her fist and put it down by her side. They were still staring at one another. There was an intense silence which Hermione bravely broke.

"You're skins soft" She exclaimed cheerily, hoping to get them back to where they'd been minutes before.

Fred took the hint and grinned, "I use your moisturiser!"

"What?" This, Hermione hadn't expected.

"Yep, it smells lovely"

She laughed and stood up, he emulated her actions. They entered the house still wet and now with grass stuck to them. Fred used Accio to get towels and Hermione made them kiwi smoothies.

"So… did you like swimming?" Fred asked smiling at her from the counter top he was sitting on.

"Well" Hermione said in between sips of her drink, "I wouldn't call it swimming per se, more of a water fight"

"I don't know about you, but I managed to get a few backstrokes in" Fred joked.

Hermione laughed, giving Fed his desired response from her. Out of the thousands of people he made laugh every day, it was her laugh that gave him a sense of satisfaction, a sense of doing something, because, he'd figured she hadn't laughed much in a while. It also made him happy. Not the happy-go-lucky way he was constantly, or the happy of being with his twin and family, but a different happy. A happy he'd never experienced before.

"What time is it?" He asked Hermione.

"Four. Why?"

"Woo! Movie time!" He cheered.

"Do you have anything specific in mind?" Hermione asked him.

"Nope. Well… something light hearted. Nothing too heavy!" He reasoned.

"I have the perfect movie! It's one of my top three all time favourites" Hermione admitted.

"What is it?" He asked, leaning forward.

"Notting Hill"

"Never heard of it" He replied shaking his head.

"Of course you haven't. You've only known of the existence of films for a month and a half!" Hermione laughed, "Trust me. You'll love it"

"You said that about bloody Anastasia" He grumbled playfully.

"B-but you said y-you liked it" Hermione stuttered.

"I say a lot of things"

"Now wait a minute-"

"Hermione! Calm! I'm kidding I loved the film! Bartok for Minister of Magic I say" Fred said, interrupting her before a rant could begin.

"Sorry. Well you will identify with Spike in this!"

"What?"

"Spikes a who, not a what…well…actually now that I think about it, you take bits from every character" Hermione laughed to herself as she pictured a combination of Fred and Spike.

"What's so funny?" He demanded.

"You'll see in a minute! I just have to change out of this wet swimsuit. Maybe you should do the same" Hermione said. She got out of her chair at the table in which she had been sitting and then headed upstairs. She was followed by Fred.

Fred was downstairs first. He was in long kaki shorts and a cream t-shirt. Hermione wore her favourite, most worn, and oldest pair of faded Levis. She had the ends tucked into fluffy socks and she had a white v-neck jumper over it. Hermione had brought a blanket.

Fred quirked one eyebrow as she sat down next to him.

"We might get cold! Who knows?" Hermione explained meekly as she tried to justify the blanket.

Fred said nothing as Hermione put the DVD in and pressed the play button. Hermione turned off all the lights except for the tiny lamp in the living rooms corner. During the opening scene she could almost feel Fred rolling his eyes.

"It gets better" She said quietly.

"I didn't say anything" He whispered.

"You didn't have to" She whispered back.

Soon they were both immersed in the movie. For Hermione this was at least her hundredth time seeing it. She never tired of it. It was a classic. Somewhere in the middle of the film Fred reached across her. Hermione's heart raced. He looked at her,and she hoped he hadn't heard it. But he just pulled the blanket across them both. He ignored Hermiones smirk and her whisper of, "I told you so".

As the credits rolled, Hermione turned to face Fred. He was looking right at her.

"Well?" She asked him.

"Not bad" He replied indifferently.

"Not bad? It's amazing! It's-"

"Yet again, you take me too seriously" He grinned, "I loved it, if you really want to know" He admitted.

Hermione grinned as he continued, "Spike's brilliant, but I love Bernie too! And Martin! And William! And Honey! And-"

"I get it!" Hermione laughed as she interrupted his tirade, "It's my second favourite movie"

She got up and walked out to the kitchen. Fred followed her out. Hermione began to start dinner. It was half six, quarter to seven. And it was much needed.

"Fred?"

"Yessum?"

"Could you do the sauce?" Hermione asked him.

"Yep. Er…what are we having?"

"Beef and red bell pepper stir-fry"

"I've never had that" He mumbled.

"Me either" Hermione chuckled. Fred grinned as he prepared the sauce like the recipe said. He had little trouble and was soon helping Hermione. It only took a few minutes and they were soon stuffing their faces. The sea air had made them ravenous. Fred gulped down a glass of water.

"Granger-"

"Fred, why do you call me Granger?" Hermione asked him.

"I dunno. I don't do it that often though"

"You do it all the time. You're rivalling Malfoy for use of my surname these days"

Fred looked down at his plate, then up at Hermione.

"Sorry. Force of habit I guess. You were always Ron's friend. I guess I still think of you as that and so I still call you Granger"

"Is that what I am to you still? Rons best friend?" Hermione asked, her fork clattering onto her plate.

"No…you're other things"

"Like what? Your cook?" Hermione glared.

"N-no. You're my house-mate. And my…" Fred's voice faded out.

"Yes?" Hermione asked, urging him to continue. Fred looked into her eyes. He wanted to say something so bad, but knew it would be wrong and inappropriate, so instead he said, "You're my friend", somewhat lamely.

Hermione's face fell but she recovered quickly.

"Well don't call me Granger then" She said as she picked up her fork.

"Okay then… Hermione" Fred replied softly.

At that moment a tiny owl came soaring in the kitchen window. He bounced around the room, zooming towards the table. Fred caught it in his left hand.

"Pig" he muttered as he unwrapped a letter from the birds' leg. Ron's owl Pigwidgeon now began hopping on the table. He ate a bit of Hermiones left over beef as he waited.

Fred opened the letter and stared at it. All Hermione saw were his pupils dashing back and forth across the page.

"What is it Fred?" She asked.

He didn't answer and did nothing but gape at the letter. Hermione made a grab for the letter but he pulled his arm away.

"Accio letter" She said firmly, waving her wand.

The letter flew out of Fred's grasp and into Hermiones outstretched hand. She read it aloud:

_"Romilda & Ron,  
Do hereby invite you,  
Fred and Hermione to our engagement party.  
It is to be held in the Siana restaurant in Diagon Alley.  
You may each bring a guest if you wish. It is on Friday the 7__th__ September. It begins at eight o'clock. Hoping to see you there. Please R.S.V.P A.S.A.P.  
(or Fred just drop in home!)  
Yours sincerely,  
Romilda & Ron_

_BLACK TIE"_

Fred looked at Hermione; waiting for her reaction. Her face was unreadable until suddenly, she burst out laughing. Fred was stunned. This he hadn't expected.

Fred joined in and soon they were laughing for the sake of laughing. If they had any neighbours they would be knocking down the door right now. As all Fred and Hermione sounded like were a pack of hyenas!

"What kind of engagement party is black tie?" Hermione managed at last.

"I don't know. Ron and Romildas maybe?" Fred shrugged.

"Correction! Romilda and Rons! Take note, she comes before him!"

Soon they were back on the sofa laughing and reminiscing about old times in Hogwarts. They reached the subject of Hagrid but Hermione quickly changed it to Quidditch, the one subject she'd talk about to avoid talking about how much she missed her big friend.

"Hermione, it'll help you to talk about it" Fred urged her.

"Not tonight it won't" She snapped.

Fred raised his arms into the air, signalling that he surrendered. They talked for hours.

"Time?" Fred asked her.

"Oh! It's one in the morning! We stay up late way too often" Hermione smiled.

"Guess what?" He asked grinning.

"What?"

"JERRY! JERRY! JERRY! Come on Hermsy, say it with me"

Reluctantly Hermione joined in with a weak "Jerry! Jerry!"

"No Mione, you can't say Jerry half heartedly, it's an insult to me personally! Say it with me now… one, two, three!"

Hermione took a deep breath then chanted loudly, "JERRY! JERRY! JERRY!"

It was now three o clock and they were finished two bottles of wine, three Jerry Springer episodes and were roaring his name, albeit, somewhat hoarsely now.

"Night Fred" Hermione slurred.

"NO! DON'T LEAVE ME HERMSSSSY!" Fred roared, but it was too late she was now in a deep sleep. Seeing her lay there, empty wine glass still clutched in her hand, Fred felt the alcohol drain out of him at the sight of her chest rising and falling, her head was on his lap, her hair acting as a pillow.

He somewhat clumsily took the glass out of her hand. Then he picked Hermione up, and carried her upstairs to her room.

She stirred as he sat her on her bed. He pulled her jeans off and her top too. He tried not to stare at her, trying to save her modesty. He then pulled one of her night dresses over her head and pulled her arms through the holes. Finally he tucked her under the covers.

"This is becoming a bit repetitive, don't cha think?!" He chuckled to himself; "Night Hermione" Fred said looking down on her sleeping form.  
It took every ounce of his self control not to climb in next to her in bed. Instead he turned his back on her and quickly exited her bedroom. He turned off all the lights in the house with a wave of his wand. Then Fred stumbled into his room. He shut the door, staggered across the floor and collapsed onto his bed. Replaying one thing over and over in his mind; Hermiones hand on his face earlier on today, her fingertips lingering on his lips. He groaned and rolled over, wrapping himself in his blankets. And falling into a sleep so deep it rivalled a coma.

* * *

**Authors Note:**  
I love Fred in this chapter. I hated him calling her Granger so now she's either Hermione or Hermsy. For those of you who don't like her nickname. I just think that seeing as Fred and George have nicknames for almost everyone it's fitting that Hermione has a nickname! It's also what Grawp called her... I think!  
Next chapter is the Engagement party! Ooh the excitement! It also features a rather evil Romilda quite a lot! Oh and a showdown between Fred, Ron and Harry either happens in the next chapter or the one after!! Whoop!

Special thanks to emaleekay93, jessicashekler, TahnDawg and Anna-xx-Banana.

**Anna:** I washed my hair and restyled it so now I like it! I'm hiding all the horrible highlights too! Thank god for hats! I like all those things about Fred too! I can't decided which trait of his I like best!

Love Always...

* * *

_**F**_irebolt_**P**_heonix


	6. Fred or no Fred

**Authors Note**: Okay so the length between updates has reached a ridiculous amount of time… time, something I never seem to have enough of. I could tell you exactly why I didn't update for so long but I'll bore you! Sorry doesn't cover it. I hope this chapter does! At least a bit of it!

Also, I must issue this warning: please do not hyperventilate when reading this. I am referring to the part of Fred in a tuxedo obviously.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this new instalment and that it meets your expectations (or hopefully goes beyond them!)…

**Disclaimer: **As everyone knows by now is it necessary?? –sigh– If I must then… J. K. Rowling owns it all. Also, Calvin Klein, I apologise for using your name, but it fitted Fred at that moment! Not forgetting Kelly Clarkson for the song!

_Quote_: Fall seven times, stand up eight – Japanese proverb.

* * *

**Fred or no Fred?**

The weeks after that day passed in a blur of some form of happiness for Hermione. She was slowly becoming more like the old her. But it was an excruciating slow process; Fred however, had all the patience in the world when it came to Hermione. Hermione had been on one other date with Dean. Fred had gone to stay with George that night. Knowing he couldn't last through another night like the first. The next morning Hermione had been off form, giving Fred the impression that things hadn't gone well. Needless to say, the guy was ecstatic.

Hermione now wandered into his room. The once unpainted wall now had a mural of the sea on it. Hermione stared at it. She hadn't noticed this before.

It covered the entire wall, the window didn't interrupt it. It just looked out on the sea, giving the impression that the whole wall was glass and you were looking out on the sea. It glittered and sparkled the exact same as the real thing. The waves were perfect. It was as if he'd taken a black and white photo and made it into wallpaper.

"Fred?" She called to him.

"Uh huh" He answered from his bed. He was on his back filling in an order form for Weasleys Wizard Wheezes.

"Did you do this yourself?" Hermione asked.

"Did I do what by myself?" He said, signing the sheet.

"This mural"

"Oh that" Fred rolled onto his side, to get both Hermione and the mural into view, "Yeah, I did"

"But it's brilliant! I never knew you were this artistic" Hermione exclaimed.

"It's nothing really" He said offhandedly.

Hermione whipped her head around, and looking him dead in the eye she said, "Fred, stop being modest. It's utterly amazing"

This compliment affected Fred more than he had anticipated. A wave of emotions crashed over him, most of which he couldn't identify. He smiled at Hermione and beckoned her over to his bed. She walked over, still staring at the mural. Fred put the order form down. Hermione sat on his bed and dragged her eyes away from the mural to look at him.

"What'll I wear?" She moaned, lying back on the bed. Fred lay next to her and they both stared at the mural.

"Another date with Dean is it?" He asked quietly. _I thought that was over!_

"No, tonight is Ron and Romildas engagement party" She replied.

"Shit! It is" He said, sitting up so fast he made himself dizzy, "I'd forgotten" He needlessly explained to a bemused Hermione as he rubbed his temples.

"I can see that!" She smirked.

"Don't just sit there! What'll I do?" He said, jumping to his feet and waving his arms in strange directions.

"You help me find something to wear, and I'll add your name to the card on my gift. It can be from both of us!" She smiled up at him.

Fred calmed down immediately. He held out his hand for Hermione to take, which she did. He pulled her up and led her out of his room and into her own.

"You know" He said on the way down the hall, "You really are an indecisive creature" He spoke in a posh voice, "Not at all what I expected"

"I know! I'm totally different from who I used to be" She chuckled as she headed to her wardrobe.

"I'm not sure if that's a good thing" Fred mumbled to himself. But he sat down nonetheless, "I'm having an extreme case of Déjà vu here!" He joked as Hermione pulled clothes from her wardrobe, then he said in a camp voice, "You seriously need a stylist". Hermione laughed but continued rooting for stuff to wear.

Together they decided on a simple dress. It was a deep blue but faded through every shade of the colour, in the middle it was white before changing colour again, ending up, at the bottom of the dress, being turquoise. It stopped a bit below her knees. She wore white heels, in which she couldn't properly walk, and she accessorised with a white clutch bag.

"Thanks Freddie" She grinned.

"No problemo" He smiled back.

"You should go and get ready. Don't forget! It's either a tuxedo or very dressy dress robes!" She reminded.

"Ugh, it is, isn't it?" He moaned. Then, resilient, he stood up, "I shall leave your company then" He moped to Hermione.

"Go now" Hermione directed, pointing at her open door. Fred slumped his shoulders and shuffled towards the door. He looked back at her over his shoulder, doing his very best puppy dog face, but Hermione kept her expression the same until he left to get dressed. _He's too cute for his own good._ Hermione thought to herself. Then in an effort to banish such thoughts, she started doing her make-up and hair.

They met downstairs. Hermione was waiting at the foot of the stairs. Fred was going to make them late and she was beginning to become annoyed. She heard him coming down the steps and looked up at him.

She nearly fainted… right there. But she somehow managed to keep her grip on the banister, and stayed upright.

"Stupid cuff links" He groaned fidgeting with them. Hermione was relieved to see he hadn't noticed her ogling him.

"Come here, I'll do them" She squeaked. He stopped on the last step as she said this.

Holding out his wrists, Fred said huskily, "Cuff me" He flashed her sort of a crooked smile as he spoke.

Hermione took a step back. Fred smelled so good he was practically edible. His hair was slightly damp and falling into his blue eyes just the way Hermione loved it. The tuxedo made him look like a model for Calvin Klein's range of men's evening wear. His tie was undone his jacket sleeves rolled up. It gave the impression he was back from a wedding instead of on his way to an engagement party. Hermione had no idea how she could be in such close proximity to such a handsome guy, never mind being upstaged by him. She smiled to herself though, Romilda would not be happy being upstaged by the groom-to-be's older brother, which she would. Everyone would.

Fred raised an eyebrow at Hermione. She took a step towards him and busily started doing up his cuff links.

"Done" She said minutes later. He rolled down his jacket sleeves. Then he made for the door but Hermione blocked his way.

"What about your tie?" She asked him.

"Tie shmie! I've never worn one properly and Ron won't mind at all. He'll think its hilarious" Fred grinned down at her.

Hermione shook her head and reached her hands up to him.

Fred gave her a bemused expression before hugging her. Hermione passed out.

For about two seconds.

Being engulfed by his scent was enough to send her over the edge. After a second she got her mind back to function mode.

"Fred, I was attempting to tie your tie. But thanks for the free hug!" She grinned.

Fred winked at her suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows, "You know my hugs to you are always free!" He said as he came down the last step and bent his head so Hermione could tie his tie. He didn't see her blush scarlet and nearly faint again at the closeness between them.

She started to shorten one side of his tie.

"So..." She said lightly, "You can't tie a tie?"

Fred laughed sarcastically, "Haha. You're so funny! I just never bothered to learn"

"But what about your school tie?" Hermione asked, trying to focus her mind on other things than his appearance and scent.

"I just did a fancy knot!" He grinned. Hermione chuckled.

"I'll show you how to another day but today we're going to be late! Maybe you should invent a self-tying tie? Because Harry and Ron's were always a disaster in school! And make them choke you every time you get it wrong!"

"Hermione" Fred teased, "Everyday you become more and more mischievous, I'm having a bad effect on you!" He smirked.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I always had a mischievous streak, you just haven't seen it before!"

Fred widened his eyes theatrically, "Well I must hear more about this mischievous streak!"

"I'll tell you some day! Now… can you please wait outside for just one minute? I have to fix my hair!"

"Women" Fred muttered as he stepped out into the driveway. The minute he closed the door Hermione sank to the floor. She was breathing fast, and in fear of hyperventilating, she took deep, slow, calming breaths.

"Oh boy" She said breathlessly, "I did not see that one coming" She said, referring of course, to Fred's extreme handsomeness. She slowly stood up. With one last look in the mirror she stepped out the front door.

"Ready?" Fred asked, leaning against the pillar, looking perfect with both hands in his pockets.

Hermione took a breath, "As ready as I'll ever be"

Fred took her hand and apparated them to the Leaky Cauldron. He still kept her hand in his and led them out to the back. Hermione liked the warmth, and she tried her utmost to ignore the violent waves of dizziness that washed over her. Fred let go so that they could enter Diagon Alley. Hermione felt lonely, when his hand let go of her own.

_Okay_, Hermione corrected herself, _I was not ready for that... for holding hands… for as long as that. This is going to be a long and dangerous night. Note to self: Please don't faint… at least not in public._

Then she looked at Fred. He smiled, took her hand and started informing her about a new product himself and George were nearly finished inventing for their joke shop.

As they reached Siana restaurant Hermione gasped as Fred let out a low whistle.

"Nice" He commented. Hermione turned to him.

"But you see this place everyday. What makes it worthy of a whistle today?" She asked, confused.

"Mione, that's because everyday it's just a red brick building with Siana hanging over the door. It's not this" He said gesturing at the building. Its entire front was tinted glass. There was a red velvet rope that a bouncer was controlling and a long red carpet.

Hermione snorted. Fred looked down at her quizzically.

"Who'd want to gate crash Ron and Romildas engagement party?" She laughed.

"It's Romilda and Ron actually!" Fred reminded her. Then he grinned, "And, she is, like, a writer, so she's like, so totally famous!" He mocked doing a little dance. It was more hilarious than it would have normally been because of him being dressed so exquisitely but acting so immaturely. Hermione burst out laughing. In fact she couldn't stop. Fred dragged her up to the rope, chuckling and rolling his eyes.

"Hermy, stop acting so immaturely" he scolded playfully. Hermione was laughing so much she didn't even see the role reversal or the irony.

"Fred Weasley" He said to the bouncer. The bouncer, a big guy of about forty, checked the list, nodded and lifted the rope so Fred could pass underneath. It was a struggle, what with him being tall and all. But he managed it, and still he hadn't let go of Hermiones hand.

"Hermione Granger" She said, stepping forward.

The bouncer looked at the list and back up.

"Sorry. You're not on here" He said in a bored tone.

"What?" Hermione and Fred asked simultaneously.

"I said, you're not on the list"

Hermione was furious.

"It's Romilda" she said to Fred, "She hates me"

Fred hadn't needed this information as he knew it already.

"Listen, buddy" He said to the bouncer, "I'm the groom-to-be's brother. Hermione's an honorary member of our family, you have to let her in" Fred said somewhat forcefully.

"Then I wouldn't be doing my job. She's not on the list. She doesn't get in" The bouncer retorted.

"I own a joke shop and I swear I will haunt you until you die if you don't let her in this minute. I'll even be so kind as to let you test our newest inventions, the ones that are still in progress" Fred threatened.

"But still I wouldn't be doing my job, would I?" The bouncer said in the same tone as before, although his eyes showed a hint of fear.

"You'll disappear… people will think you're dead when in fact I'll have slipped you an invisibility potion... a permanent one… Have fun never being seen again, as we still don't have an antidote" Fred said in such a deathly quiet voice that Hermione's ears strained to pick up what he said, "You don't actually think Harry Potter got rid of Voldemort do you? No, he's under a Weasley's invisibility potion, in a cage underneath Hogwarts-"

Hermione looked at Fred, finally regaining control.

"Fred, could you bring Ron out here?" She asked him lightly.

He grinned wickedly at the bouncer, "I'd love to Mione"

Fred then looked down at their still joined hands, regretfully he let go of her hand and he nearly sprinted inside to find Ron.

Once inside he took no notice of people's attire or the decorations. He ran straight into George though, just as he passed the bar.

"Forge, get Ron!" Fred said urgently. George quirked an eyebrow wondering what had gotten his brother so upset. "It's Hermione" Fred added. Suddenly George saw it all. How Fred wanted to stay at home a lot lately, how he was always leaving work at the right time instead of hanging around after hours. Fred lov-_No! That's impossible Forge!_ He thought, stopping his train of thought.

George grinned knowingly at Fred and before taking off to find Ron he winked at his other half.

"We need to talk Gred" Was all he said. Fred rolled his eyes and watched George turn and run off, laughing the entire way about how he'd never seen this coming.

George returned minutes later with Ron in tow.

"What?" Ron asked, gasping for air as he came to a halt infront of his brother.

"Hermione can't get in" Fred said accusingly as if it was Ron's fault. Ron's mouth formed a strange shape, he seemed confused.

"But I told Romilda to-" He started

"Well there lies the answer. Romilda" Fred interrupted, furrowing his brow, "Hermione's outside"

Ron headed outside, followed closely by Fred and George. George kept glancing at his twin, smiling.

"You like Hermione" He whispered teasingly, so Ron wouldn't hear.

"I don't" Fred said firmly.

"You want to hold her, you want to kiss her" George continued on as if the interruption hadn't happened.

Fred stared at his twin. "I do not like Hermione" He said, through clenched teeth.

George grinned as he finally realised something, "No, you don't. You lov-"

Fred elbowed him in the stomach, "I don't. And even if I did, which I don't, she was sort of dating Dean Thomas… I think. So just drop it" He whispered fiercely. _Do two dates even count as dating? No!! So technically, Hermione never dated Dean! . . ._

George bit his lip to hide a smile and nodded.

They finally got outside only to find Hermione having a conversation with the bouncer.

"… deserve more than what they have" She was saying passionately.

The bouncer nodded, "I agree, I mean us wizards treat them like floor mats. We're just horrible people" He wailed before bursting into tears. Hermione consoled him. The twins stuffed their fists in their mouths trying to reign in their laughter at the beast of a man weeping on petit Hermione's shoulder, Ron was just plain confused. He walked over to the bouncer.

"Can you let her through?" He asked; interrupting him before a fresh wave of tears came.

The bouncer nodded, and lifted the rope for Hermione. When she was through he gave her a pat on the back that almost resembled a hug and said gruffly, "Sorry miss, but you're name wasn't on the list. There was a Hermione something but it was scratched out. I should've let you pass, I was horrible, j-just l-li-like I am t-to my house elf" And he was off again, bawling into Hermione's shoulder.

The twins had to turn their backs, as their laughter couldn't last one more minute before it exploded out of them. Ron was smiling at the beefy guy. Hermione patted his back.

"It's okay. Just give him a small wage and a few days off. He'll be happier and will work better, making you happier" She encouraged. He sniffed, nodded and turned away to check the list for more people who had queued.

Hermione walked over to where Fred and George stood, laughing out loud now.

"Do you have any idea how monumental that was back there and you laughed at him?" She shrieked, enraged. A wind had picked up and her hair went in one direction while her dress was billowing in another direction.

This sent them over the edge and they doubled over, knotted with laughter. Finally, after a lot of huffing and foot tapping on Hermiones part, they stood up to their full height and as they towered over her they tried to look like they were sorry.

"Hermione, it was funny!" George insisted, chuckling slightly.

"It was not. It changed his view on his house elf. In case you didn't hear, he's going to pay him" She snapped, emphasising 'pay'.

"Hermy, it's only a house elf. It's a nothing. Remember Kreature?" Fred said as George laughed.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, "Fred Weasley, you take that back right now" she demanded.

Raising one eyebrow and crossing his arms he asked, "And what if I don't?" A ghost of a smirk on his lips.

Hermione stared at him, infuriated, and then she said threateningly, "You don't know half of what I'm capable of Fred. I'll start with getting rid of the television, so you can kiss goodbye to Jerry" And then she entered the building.

George laughed as he had no idea what Hermione was rambling about, but Fred didn't join in. Instead his twin looked torn. Then with one last glance at his brothers he chased after Hermione. George was stunned.

"Did he just…?" George asked Ron.

"Yeah…he just did" Ron replied, who was, if possible, even more stunned than George.

-

Fred caught up with Hermione not long after she got inside.

"Go away Fred" She said as her pace quickened

"No. I'm not going anywhere" He insisted as he matched his pace with hers, panting slightly.

"I just don't understand" Hermione said, whirling around to face him, leaving the smallest gap between their faces, "How you can be so different when you're with George than when you're with me"

"I…I'm not different. I'm the same" Fred smiled.

Hermione sceptically raised an eyebrow.

"Well, he's my twin! What do you expect? We own a joke shop! One that is absolutely amazing and even you have to admit that. So it's perfectly normal for us to feel the need to laugh at insignificant things" He grinned.

Hermione felt a smile creep across her face, replacing her scowl, she couldn't believe one smile from Fred could make her lose her resilience.

"House elves aren't insignificant. They're important beings and they deserve respect. And wands, and a representative in the Ministry, and-"

"Hermione, I promise, I'll listen to what you have to say at home, and we can debate, but could you just chill? It's a party. A black tie party, but a party nonetheless" Fred said, looking down at her. Hermione smiled at him, her eyes shining at the prospect of a debate. The only person who had ever shown interest in S.P.E.W was Dumbledore, but now she had Fred of all people, to confide in as well.

"Okay. We must find Ron and Romilda and give them their present" She told him.

He stuck out his arm, "Lead the way m'lady" Fred said grandly flourishing with his other hand. Hermione slipped her hand in through the crook of his arm. He grinned down at her as she steered them through the hoards of guests, trying to locate Ron and Romilda.

They found them a few minutes later.

"Fred! How fantastic you're looking, oh, and Hermione too. I didn't think you could make it" Romilda said politely while her eyes took in every inch of Fred with a sort of hunger in her them. Hermione felt protective of him and extremely jealous. And angry too, what about Ron? Romilda was taken. Fred was her- _No! Don't even begin to think that way about Fred … But you already do think of him that way,_ a sly voice in her head pointed out…

"Well you're bouncer is such a great guy he couldn't resist" Hermione replied stepping slightly infront of Fred. He looked thoroughly entertained at the two woman's actions.

"Ron, nice work on this place" He said to his brother, grinning at him. Trying to break the tension.

"It wasn't Ron" Romilda answered. She put her hand on Fred's arm and purred, "It was all me"

Fred stared at Hermione for help. She was no help, smirking up at him so he had to shake Romilda off his arm himself. His eyes were wide and he no longer looked comfortable being close to Romilda. Hermione handed the gift to Ron. He grinned at her.

"Thanks Mione" Ron said gratefully. She smiled at him, and then Ron looked at Fred and said teasingly, "What's this? Nothing from you mate? Is it an invisible lion or something?"

Fred laughed, "Thanks for the idea, invisible pets, they'll be a sure fire hit! But it's from both of us. Me and Mione" Fred tried to keep his face straight but such a thing was impossible when Ron's ears and forehead reddened and he stuttered to make a reply.

"Together?" He managed at last

"Yep" Hermione answered, and she smiled at Fred.

"Would you care to dance?" Fred asked Hermione, in his posh voice again. She giggled as she took his hand. He led her out onto the dance floor and twirled her around.

"Don't they look just great together Ronny?" Romilda said quietly. He couldn't take his eyes off his brother and his best friend who was also his ex girlfriend. She looked stunning. But it was a subtle beauty it wasn't in-your-face unlike Romilda's was. He began imagining a scenario when he asked Hermione to dance and the rest of the night was magically spent in one another's arms, but Romildas grating voice interrupted his thoughts and dissolved his fantasy before his very eyes.

"How long has it been going on do you think? They're dancing close enough for me to guess, oh I don't know… two/three months?" Romilda said in a sweetly vindictive tone.

Ron couldn't talk he just swallowed and nodded, not able to take his eyes off Hermione. Romilda sighed in frustration before strutting away from her fiancé towards the bar.

_Why can't he just get over the nerd? I mean, hello, she's wearing a tie-dyed dress. Eeew!_

Harry arrived five minutes later. Luna was accompanying him as his date. She was wearing a luminous green dress. The end of it was slightly darker than the bright green on top and it looked as if Luna herself had cut the end of it into little strips. Her blonde hair was half up-half down and she wore hundreds of bangles on both her wrists aswell as actual leaves as earrings. She looked so surreal next to Harry in his plain black tuxedo. But as Harry looked at her, it was clear that he was smitten with this odd ball. He found Ron and handed him the small gift-wrapped box. But it was clear his friends' attention was elsewhere he just muttered his thanks, not even bothering to take his eyes from whatever he was interested in.

"Hello! Earth to Ron! Anyone in there?" Harry asked.

Ron still didn't acknowledge him.

"What are you looking at?" Harry wondered aloud. Following Rons gaze all he saw was a crowded dance floor.

"I think I know" Luna said dreamily. Harry turned to face his girlfriend his eyes shining waiting for the strange thing she was about to inform him on. But she didn't speak. She just pointed to the centre of the dance floor, beneath the massive disco ball. Harry followed her line of vision and his jaw dropped with what he saw.

Fred had led Hermione to the middle of the dance floor, right underneath the massive glitter ball. They started dancing to a fast song that was playing. It was one of the Weird Sisters. Fred started a small dance off then by dancing the mashed potato and seeing if Hermione could top it. They laughed as they tried to remember muggle dance routines, in the end Hermione won, because she could do a complicated move that only resulted in Fred's claiming she was cheating because it was too complicated to be non-magical.

"Oooh! Somebody's a sore loser" Hermione teased.

"Am not" Fred pouted.

"Are too" Hermione smiled.

"Am not! Am not! Am not!" Fred protested.

Hermione gave in but branded him a, "Baby", which made Fred tickle her until she took it back.

Then the song changed to a slow muggle track. Fred and Hermione stared at one another and then slowly Hermione tugged Fred closer to her. He grinned and closed the space between them quickly. Hermione wound her hands around Fred's neck as he rested his on her slight waist. They swayed together, listening to the songs lyrics.

_I'm strong,_

_But I break._

_I'm stubborn,_

_And I make plenty of mistakes._

Hermione was perfectly happy being swallowed up by Freds scent that mixed aftershave with Fireworks and freshly cut grass. Needless to say Fred was in his element. He kept biting his lip, because when he felt the stab of pain he realised this was real and he was in fact holding Hermione this close. And that he wasn't imagining the fact that her hair was sending his brain wild with wonderful thoughts.

_Yeah I'm hard,_

_And life with me is never easy,_

_To figure out, to love,_

_I'm jaded but oh so lovely._

Neither of them knew they had an audience that consisted of a spiteful Romilda, a jealous Ron, a stunned Harry, a smirking George and a dazed Luna who had already lost interest in the dancing couple and was now focusing on a spiggleloptrot.

_All you have to do is hold me,_

_And you'll know and you'll see just how sweet it can be,_

_If you'll trust me, love me, let me,_

_Maybe, maybe._

"You look beautiful tonight Hermione" Fred whispered in her ear making her spine shiver. She looked up into his eyes, "So do you" She whispered back. But then she stuttered, "I mean you're beautiful obviously but I meant to say handsome. I just-"

_Someday, when we're at the same place,_

_When we're on the same road. . ._

Fred chuckled, "Its okay Hermione" She stopped rambling, "We can both be beautiful" He smirked. She grinned and they returned to their dance which was more like an endless sway. Hermione rested her head on his chest, and he pulled her closer instinctively, neither realising what they were doing but their audience did.

_When it's okay to hold my hand,_

_Without feeling lost._

_Without all the excuses,_

_When it's just because you love me, you let me, you need me._

"Is that actually Hermione? I mean, it could be someone who looks like her" Harry tried to reason.

Ron shook his head, "No, it's definitely her"

"I think they look great. They fit together" Luna added, still not taking her eyes from the being only she could see.

"No they don't" Ron said viciously tearing his gaze form the dancing pair, "She's just dancing with him because he reminds her of me! That's all" Ron spat at the blonde.

_Then maybe, maybe. . ._

_All you have to do is hold me,_

_And you'll know, and you'll see just how sweet it can be,_

_If you'll trust me, love me, let me, maybe, maybe._

Harry rounded on him, "Leave her alone, I agree with Luna, they do fit together"

"Yeah, they fit like words in an incantation" George agreed, "So maybe ikkle Ronnikins could try to remember the fact that he dumped her and that you're getting married and that Fred looks nothing like you. So maybe you should just accept the fact that they're dancing that close together because they like one another!" George said loudly, sticking up for his other half.

"They can't like each other" Ron whined.

"Whether they do or don't, I don't see how it's your business. Maybe you should go see if Romilda's still alive, you never know what could've happened in all the time you been jealously drooling over Fred and Hermione!" George advised. Ron glared at him before making his way towards where he'd last seen Romilda. George then said quietly to Harry, "You find out off Hermione, I'll find out off Fred, then we can share our information"

Harry nodded and then they both faced the two people in question.

_I'm confusing as hell; I'm north and south,_

_And I'll probably never have it all figured out,_

_But what I know is I wasn't meant to walk this world without you,_

_And I promise I'll try,_

_Yeah I'm gonna try,_

_To give you every little part of me,_

_every single detail you missed with your eyes,_

_Then maybe, maybe, yeah, maybe, maybe, maybe, yeah maybe._

Hermione and Fred danced until the song faded out a few minutes later. As it ended Hermione and Fred looked at one another. It was a perfect moment. Hermione smiled up at him and Fred felt his insides melt. He had never thought it was possible to feel this way about a girl. But now that he was feeling it he felt stupid for not acting on his feelings for her. Because Fred couldn't deny it to himself anymore. He loved Hermione. Now was the perfect moment to tell her too. He took both her hands in his.

"Hermione?" He asked quietly.

"Fred?" She mirrored.

"I... uh... I think that I lo-" Fred stammered as he looked down at her dainty hands as if for inspiration.

"HERMIONE!" A familiar voice called out to her.

She stayed looking at Fred but Fred could see who it was and his whole being changed. He stood up to his full height, he went rigid and his eyes became cold. Hermione was expecting Malfoy to be behind her because of Freds reaction. But then hands were wrapped around her middle and pulled her away from Fred, making her let go of his soft hands. The person swung her around and then she could finally see who it was.

"Dean! What are you doing here?" Hermione asked him, too stunned to even say hi.

"Well when you told me two days ago about this shindig I figured I might as well try and get myself invited so that we could tell everyone!" He beamed down at her. She forced a smile onto her face. He was wearing a black pinstriped suit with a pink tie. He leaned in for a kiss but Hermione turned her cheek. She felt awkward with Fred watching them. But then he walked over.

"Tell everyone what?" He asked his voice dripping with anger... and betrayal, but only Hermione picked up on this. She couldn't look at him.

"That we are-" Dean started but Fred interrupted.

"I want to hear it from Hermione thanks" His blue eyes made contact with her brown ones and searched for an answer.

She took a deep breath, "Dean and I are dating" She felt her heart break as she told him and she saw his face crumple, but only for a split second, then he regained his almost regal composure.

"Like full on dating!" Dean said enthusiastically, "We have been for weeks but we're moving in together now!" He grinned at the red head and smirked triumphantly. Fred was ready to lunge at him but then George arrived and caught the back of his tuxedo knowing exactly what his twin had been about to do.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Hermione and I are moving in together" Dean said as he wrapped an arm around Hermione's waist.

"Well...we haven't really talked..." Hermione mumbled, but no one was paying her any attention. She tried to get out of Deans grasp but his arm was like steel.

"You're what?" George asked again. Before anybody could answer he asked, "But what about Fred? He lives with Hermione in case you'd forgotten!"

"No of course I hadn't. We're not going to make him homeless, that'd be cruel, I'm offering to swap with him. He can have my apartment" Dean said lightly.

"Yeah because that's exactly where I want to live" Fred said sarcastically.

"Or you can still live with us! We'll only need one bedroom after all" Dean said with a wink to Hermione. Fred then went to punch Dean but George held him back even though he wanted to do the same thing. He started to drag Fred away from the couple but then he heard Dean say,

"Merlin, someone's over reacting, I mean he still gets to live with us!"

And then both George and Fred ran and attacked him. But Hermione jumped in the way.

"Mione... get out of the way" Fred said fiercely. By now the entire assembly was watching the event unfold.

Hermione shook her head, "I can't let you hit him" she said quietly and then Fred disapparated. Hermione felt like dieing.

"Gee, what a nice person you've turned out to be" George spat at Hermione. She turned away and picked up her wand, ready to disapparate too.

"Hermione, love, what about me?" Dean asked her.

"Dean... I just... can't deal with all of this right now" And then she disappeared. The whole room became very still and silent. Dean laughed awkwardly and then left soon after. Slowly people started talking but all the Weasleys plus Romilda, Harry and Luna stared at the spaces where Hermione and Fred had disappeared from.

Hermione apparated into the kitchen in her house.

"Fred?" She called out.

"I'm not here" He answered. She ran up to his room and found him packing up anything he could think of. It had started raining, more violently than it had for months.

"Fred, I can explain"

"That would be great because you told me it was over... weeks ago!" He said in a calm voice that was obviously forced.

"It was... for a week" Hermione said quietly, too shamed to elaborate.

"Yeah thanks for letting me know" Fred said, laughing darkly to himself as he closed a trunk jam packed with loads of his belongings. He grabbed his wand off the bed and headed downstairs. Hermione followed him down into the living room.

Fred spun around, not able to control himself, "What I can't understand is how you spent an entire night crying your heart out on my shoulder about what a failure your life is and how Dean wasn't going to help, and then you go off and start seeing him!" He exploded.

"I know how it looks-" Hermione tried to say. But Fred wasn't finished.

"Only I don't think you do. Let's start from the beginning, shall we? I move in. Everything's good for a few weeks and then it's as if you're a tap. You just don't stop crying. You cry because you lost Hagrid in the war?" Fred said, his voice rising. Hermione stifled a gasp at his mentioning of Hagrid, but still he continued, "Hermione your not the only one who lost him or even someone else. I lost Alicia but you don't see me hysterical every two seconds do you? I also lost one of my best friends! Losing Lee would be as if Ron or Harry had died to you. I was distraught. I didn't sleep for a year. And then I realised their deaths, even though they were tragic, were not my fault and if Lee or Alicia saw me like that they'd have slapped me. So I moved on, but I never forgot, I remember the laughs, I talk with George about the good old days and we love looking at photos of everyone.

"But you? You come off as a cold bitch. You act as if only you loved Hagrid. If you haven't noticed Harry was so much closer to him than you were and he doesn't blame his life on what happened. Sure he's trying to get over it, but it's harder for him even though you make it look the other way round. Hagrid was his first EVER friend. He was loner boy, bullied by his fat twit of a cousin until he met him, and the only reason you didn't have friends was because you were conceited and stuck-up and in some ways you still are" Fred finished, his voice practically a scream. He ran a hand through his hair, making it go in all directions. His tie was undone and so were a few buttons including his cuffs. The rims of his eyes were red. He looked a state. The word to describe him - distraught.

There were tears rolling down Hermione's face. Fred knew he'd regret every single word but he was so hurt he was lashing out at the person closest to him.

Hermione couldn't think, let alone speak. So Fred took a deep breath and launched into another tirade.

"You are just as bad, if not worse than Romilda. You're attention seeking. You blow off and ignore your friends and then blame them for anything you can think of. You sit here ranting about how your life is crap. But that's just it. You sit here, doing nothing about improving it! Everything Romilda has ever said about you is true. You are a vile, wart of a person. For the name of Merlin, you are just a pathetic idiot, I'd prefer to have a conversation with a blast-ended skrewt and a flobberworm before speaking to you again. You are a vindictive, spiteful bitch!" Fred finished, breathing heavily.

Hermione was ready to pass out. She had no idea what to feel. She knew she should feel pain, hurt and anger, but all she wanted to do was comfort Fred. She took a step toward him,

"Don't touch me" He warned. Hermione broke when he looked at her as if she was something as insignificant as a rat. She shoved past him and climbed the stairs three at a time. Fred heard her bedroom door slam and winced at the shattering bang it made. He picked up his trunk and exited his house, _Hermione's house_, he corrected himself.

Just before he disapparated he was punched square in the jaw.

"What the-" He wondered before he felt his nose dissolve under someone's powerful fist. Looking up through the involuntary tears and trying to stem the blood he saw Dean Thomas.

"Fan fucking tastic" He said sarcastically.

"Leave Hermione alone. I don't know what ever possessed her to have you live with her. You're a waster. You destroy everything you touch. Take Alicia for example"

"Don't bring her into this" Fred warned.

"What a kisser she was" Dean bragged, licking his lips. Fred swallowed, trying to count to ten to not hit him.

"Get over yourself" Fred muttered.

"But Hermione! Oh, she compares to no one. What a tongue. And she does this thing where she-"

Fred pointed his wand at Dean. "Go on, finish it, I dare you" He said lightly, but with a look of death in his eyes as he stared at the man infront of him. Thoughts of what he's shouted at Hermione were invading his mind but he banished them. All he remembered was dancing with her to that muggle song only half an hour earlier.

"Nah, I won't" Dean said lightly. Fred pocketed his wand. But Dean continued, "I'll just say that in bed she is-" But he never got to finish what he was going to say as this time Fred's fist collided with his mouth, knocking five teeth out. Then his head was being battered against a wall and he was being kneed in the groin. Fred had no idea whether any of it was true but after years of waiting he was finally given enough reason to beat Dean to a pulp and that was almost as good as being given a free pass to beat up Malfoy.

"I dared you" Fred panted, "Don't you ever talk about Hermione in that way again you bastard. Or Alicia" He kicked Dean in the stomach as he was now lying on the floor. Then he squatted down next to him.

"Hermione doesn't love you. And you don't even know her. Do you know that she drank coffee to keep her awake so that she couldn't have nightmares about the war?" Fred demanded, Dean cursed him under his breath as he moaned in pain. Fred held him still, "Do you know that she wishes someone would quote her favourite lines from Notting Hill to her randomly for no reason? Or that she's always secretly wanted a tattoo?" Dean shook his head, fearing both for his life and how little he thought he knew his girlfriend.

Fred wiped blood from his mouth as he could already taste the metal-like substance. He continued, "Have you ever wondered why she stopped contact with Viktor Krum? It wasn't because of Ron, no it was for Harry, Hermione thought she was in love with Krum for awhile and at the same time Harry was going through something I can't even imagine. But Hermione gave up everything. She gave Harry all the support and love he needed even when he didn't know he did. She repeatedly helped Neville in potions even though everytime their was the risk of Snape giving detention or taking points" Dean was staring at a man who obviously loved Hermione and he knew he could not speak for so long about her if his life depended on it. Fred took a breath and then exclaimed, "She watched so many of her friends die two years ago while you were 'helping in the hospital wing' even though you can't even perform a healing charm! She was tortured and she didn't give up one iota of information. She is the most amazingly beautiful person on the inside. Sure she has flaws, but doesn't everyone? But all you care about is how she looks on your arm at Ministry functions. I have two words left to say" Fred said, coming to a close. He picked up his trunk, pulled out his wand and just before he disapparated to Merlin knows where, he said to Dean, with a look of hatred, "Fuck you".

And then he was gone. And Dean was alone, bleeding and toothless outside Hermione's house. He stood up, waved his wand to clean himself up and he grimaced as he saw his teeth on the ground, but he rang the doorbell anyway.

"HERMIONE! IT'S ME!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

A minute later Hermione opened the door, red faced and puffy eyed, "Dean-"

"Don't" Dean interrupted. He had stuff to say, "Hermione I just found out more about you in the last three minutes than I have in all my time dating you. You're amazing but I've only just realised. I'm a jerk and I don't deserve you"

"Dean, you are not a jerk you're a good guy" She said quietly.

"So she says with not much conviction" Dean narrated, chuckling to himself. Hermione tried to smile but it looked more like a grimace.

"What happened you?" She asked staring at the blood he was saturated in.

"I, uh, I went to the Hogs Head for one pint and angered the owner" He said, thinking quick, "But I'm fine, it's just material stuff"

"Dean, I hate to say this but. . . I think we should break up. I don't, only, I don't love you" Hermione finally said after a long silence.

He smiled, "Good. At least now you'll spend time focusing on yourself instead of trying to please other useless people like me"

"You're not useless" She protested.

He shrugged, "Yeah, I kind of am! But you're not, so please, live for yourself from now on. Promise?"

"Promise" She said quietly. Dean hugged her briefly and then disapparated.

The rain resumed after a long break. Looking down at the ground she wondered why there were four molars and one wisdom tooth on her front porch. But Hermione was instantly brought back to Fred and all that he'd said in their fight. Hermione was literally heartbroken. She felt as if she couldn't breathe. How could this be both the best and worst night?

Hermione closed the door, ran upstairs and stood in Fred's empty room. Something caught her eye. In a corner of Fred's wardrobe she saw a t-shirt. Picking it up she saw it was old and well worn, but that is had a picture of the Weird Sisters on it and that he'd gotten the signatures of all the Triwizard Champions, even Cedric's! It was obviously originally from fourth year when the Weird Sisters had performed. Holding it close Hermione could smell Fred, not his cologne but Fred himself. She tore off the dress she was wearing, her shoes were somewhere in her room as she'd kicked them off earlier. Then Hermione pulled the giant t-shirt over her head and slipped into her oldest pair of sweat pants. She headed down to the kitchen, tears constantly blurring her vision. Finally she found the alcohol cupboard. Clutching three bottles Hermione entered the living room. She stared at the space where she'd last seen Fred and she opened a bottle of Vodka. She drank it straight from the bottle, wincing and coughing but getting down her throat. It burned her mouth and made her eyes tear but she couldn't tell as her tears were all she could feel, each rolling down her face, making a puddle on the floor. Hermione replayed every word Fred had said to her and by the time she was done, she'd finished the Vodka and moved onto the Scotch.

"Everything he said was true" Hermione slurred to herself after a few hours of non-stop crying. She fell asleep not long after.

Waking up hours later, Hermione found herself not in her bed, but on the sofa, with a bad pain in her back. She felt a lump rise as she remembered all the times Fred had had to carry her to bed. Slowly she rose from the corner sofa. Looking at the clock it read half five. Hermione stumbled upstairs, her head pounding and her thoughts all disoriented. She gingerly stepped into Freds room. Hermione wondered if it was right to be in here but then she smelt him on her t-shirt and knew she'd rather be nowhere else so she clambered onto his bed and she was enveloped by a woody smell, that mixed with freshly cut grass and fireworks. She could not be happier given the circumstances.

Hermione stared at the mural, imagining the sea moving and then to her utter shock and amazement, the waves came to life. The sun started to rise and minute after minute it filled more and more of the window. Eventually at five past six, the sun was the only thing you could see out the window. Hermione was in awe. Fred was an amazing wizard. How much work had it taken to time the sunrise to fit into the window and to animate the waves he'd spent weeks painting? She had never seen anything more beautiful. But this moment was bittersweet as Fred was not here with her watching it. Hermione felt a single tear roll down her face, but then she wiped it away, promising herself, that she would never cry again.

"Ever" She whispered hoarsely.

_And you'll never love again either… as your entire heart and soul belongs to Fred…_

"Except he hates me" Hermione said aloud to the empty room. And she knew it was true. But she could deal. She'd once thought she'd lost everything but she'd carried on living, but not really being alive, until Fred had unknowingly saved her. She would carry on now. Fred or no Fred. Hermione knew that from here on out she was on her own.

"Rebuilding your entire life can't be that hard without the one you love, right?" She asked herself as the glittering sun moved out of sight from the window and she drooped off to sleep.

-

Hundreds of miles away in a peculiar office in a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a lone portrait was awake. A single tear mapped its way down his face, it passed his hook nose and it glittered on his sallow, and slightly oily skin.

"It's the hardest thing in the world to do, Ms Granger" Whispered the portrait of Severus Snape, "I hope you do better than I did at carrying on"

* * *

**Authors Note: **What a marathon of a chapter! But you guys deserve it! It took me ages to write so I hope you appreciate it! Severus Snape is not going to be like this big mystery from here on in! It's too late for a twist like that!… or is it?!! Heh! I just thought it would be sweet that even though Hermione felt entirely alone she had the most unlikely person rooting for her! So yes, bet you didn't see that coming!! Don't flame about Fred's reaction! I will try to explain everything in the next update. There are only three or four chapters left, I'd say a rough guess would be two extremely long chapters, or two long enough ones and a giant finale. Any ideas? Please let me know what you think will happen! I obviously won't tell you but I'd love to know what you're thinking! This chapter was dedicated to my mom. Get well soon. Love you.

Faithful reviewers who I love dearly. All of you are amazing! My inspiration :

glitterngold1014 , rgreen, The Grich Witch, Iris (that's a good idea, I'll try it out! Thanks!), CASSIE.D 101, Honey'sChild, flamingred08 (I had Hermsy in but then remembered your comment and Hermy was put in! Thank you), crazychicalol, lydiarainbow29 (I'll use it in the next chapter! thanks!!), Lorianne, Yzak Lover Extrodinaire, TahnDawg, iluvtheoc3000 (thank you so much!), GHFan, Cat18, emaleekaye93, Secret Thought.

So that's it!

Three words. . . Thanks for reading. . .

**F**irebolt**P**hoenix


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